


like a sunflower

by Crios (DreamyRequiem)



Category: Mother 3
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Gen, Roleswap, description of blood and injury in chapter 7, graphic depictions of violence is for the first chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-06-16 20:24:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 50,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15445116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamyRequiem/pseuds/Crios
Summary: Let's switch places.Let's switch places.Lucas, Lucas.Let's switch places.You're more...You're more...





	1. scattered

**Author's Note:**

> beta`d by my gf Laura (@dolfabre)
> 
> if u know anything about me u know i dig roleswap aus a lot and i can't?? find a full roleswap fic so i'm gonna write one.
> 
> warnings for blood, injury, and death for this chapter!! just. so yall are aware.

Lucas was scared.

He had left Sunshine Forest behind, past his grandfather's house, and around a seashell house. He'd taken a break there, only a little scared there, when he'd met those strange people. They'd been very nice but--he'd never seen anyone with pink hair like theirs before. Lucas had wondered how they had gotten pink hair when they'd offer to help him.

They'd told him about something about PSI, that it'd help with....whatever it was he was doing. Lucas couldn't bring himself to tell them that he was trying to find out why the Drago had killed his mom and almost killed him and his brother. He didn't want anyone trying to convince him not to do it. Not like Claus had.

(Then again, Claus had wanted to get revenge--so maybe this was better? He had hoped so--)

(But maybe he was wrong.)

The pink haired person in green--who introduced themself as Ionia--offered to awaken in and Lucas, deciding that maybe it would help if something bad did happen, agreed. A stick can only do so much in a fight, especially if the killer drago tried to kill him, too.

When he'd 'awakened', he thought 'lifeup, healing, love' and asked Ionia what it was. They had just smiled, albeit looking a little troubled by something, and told him to use love if he was ever in danger--and lifeup to fix any injuries he might get.

Lucas didn't really get what love had to do with fighting but if it meant he didn't have to fight he was okay with it.

But now that he was actually in the drago territories...He wondered.

Why had he run off by himself like this? Okay, he wanted to know why the drago had killed their Mom, but now...now that he was there, staring right at the light green drago, with glistening metal bits hanging off of it, he regretted not waiting for his dad.

If he'd been here, Lucas knew he would've been fine.

But he wasn't there--and maybe Lucas just deserved this. Maybe if he hadn't slowed his mom and Claus down before, their mom wouldn't have died. Claus wouldn't have wanted to get revenge either--though Lucas hoped that Claus would've dropped that before he actually tried anything.

Yet that thought niggled at the back of his mind as he slowly approached the drago. What if Claus had tried to come up here? Would he die? That thought scared Lucas, more than Lucas himself dying did. Was that bad, he wondered, that he was more scared of Claus dying than losing his own life?

Lucas was pretty sure it was, as the metallic drago reared its head, stomping to its feet. Wrong to not care if he died over his brother--but it was a bit hard to take back the thought now that he'd had it.

He would've tried, still, if he hadn't been overwhelmed by the drago bearing down on him. Its claws--unnatural on the drago's body, just as shiny as the bits that hung off it--crashed against the side of Lucas' face and he screamed.

His face felt hot and wet and Lucas clutched, falling on his behind and scooting back. It was--a bad idea, as the drago could just stomp him now but Lucas was more focused on trying to stop the blood flow. He remembered what Ionia had told him and gasped out, "P-P-PK Lifeup!"

It was gross and uncomfortable, feeling his face stitch itself up. Yet he still couldn't see and he realized: Oh, it didn't heal everything. Lucas struggled to get up, thrusting out his left arm to use the 'love' Ionia had also told him to use--just as the drago's jaws clamped down on the arm.

Lucas let out a soft whimper as he felt something crunch in his arm. Was it broken? Dad was going to be so mad--The drago pulled back and dragged Lucas a couple feet before he flopped on his side. The drago didn't open his mouth and Lucas--

He stared at the bloody stump where his arm used to be.

It didn't hurt, not like the attack to his face had. Lucas didn't understand why because--this was worse right, than some scratches? His arm, right above his elbow down, was just gone for Dragon's Sake!

Yet it didn't hurt at all. Lucas shuddered and cast lifeup again, watching the skin knit itself over the stump. It couldn't regrow an arm any more than it could regrow an eye, after all.

Lucas looked up at the drago as it spat out his arm, his blood staining the metal of its jaw and arms. He should--get up and run. This was dumb, he shouldn't've come without his dad or at all, really. Lucas should've stayed in Tazmily.

(A boy named Lucas left his home all alone.)

He shuddered and forced himself to his feet, dizzy as soon as he stood fully. Lucas took a few steps back and tried to run but--the drago was of course faster. Bigger, faster, and Lucas felt like an idiot, again, for thinking he could run away.

The drago roared above his head and for a moment Lucas felt all of its pain and anguish that came from the metal that had replaced its parts. Its pain mixed with what little pain Lucas could still feel and his head went fuzzy, so much so that he--couldn't see straight anymore. He was going to die here, after all.

Just as that thought occurred to him, the drago decided to kick him in the gut. Its massive claws pierced right through his stomach--his entire body--and then he went flying off. He watched his blood arch through the air as he hit the edge of the cliff and then rolled down it.

 _Sorry for leaving you alone, Claus_ , He thought as he rolled down the cliff side, _I should've waited for you and Dad..._

* * *

(A boy named Lucas died.)

* * *

Claus didn't know what to do. Lucas wasn't at the grave like he thought he had to have been and he wasn't at home.

His brother had said he wanted to find out why the drago had killed their mom--had attacked them. They were 'nice and peaceful' so why would they? Claus had snapped at him, telling him that it didn't matter and that he was going to get revenge for Mom. Lucas...Lucas had gotten upset with him and ran off, leaving Claus alone in their house.

It was so, so easy to just assume Lucas had run to their Mom's grave. Claus had bet on it when he went to the jail, nail file inside the apple and all. Where else could Lucas have gone?

Claus should've known better. As soon as he got there, leaning on his hands to catch his breath, Alec had looked down at him, knelt down, and said, "Where's your brother, Claus?”

He had looked around, confused and upset. Lucas' familiar blond hair was nowhere in sight, nor was his brother's red and yellow striped shirt. Claus, feeling dread claw its way up his throat, pushed away from Alec and ran home. Because Lucas had to be there, right?

Lucas wasn't.

When Flint appeared in the doorway on their home, he knelt down next to Claus and asked him, just as Alec had: "Where is Lucas, Claus?"

This time, instead of looking around desperately for his twin, Claus said, "He...talked about how the drago would never hurt Mom on purpose. That something bad must've hurt the drago to make it want to hurt us--I told him he was silly and then he got upset and ran away--" As soon as Claus stopped, trying to swallow his dread and fear, Flint stood up and rushed out the door.

Claus tried to follow, but Lighter and Fuel for around him, hovering protectively. He struggled to get past but--his father was already far out of sight, with his grandfather in tow.

Lighter led him back home and Claus curled up in his bed, wishing for Lucas to be there. It was so cold and lonely without him--like Claus was missing an arm. The thought made him shiver and he hoped that Lucas would be back soon.

He didn't like feeling like this.

For the rest of the day he laid there, staring at the ceiling of their home. The house that would be lonely, without their mother. (Would be lonely without Lucas.)

As evening approached, he heard his father come in, the door loudly thumping behind him. Claus kicked off the bed, excited as he searched for his brother, expecting to see him at Flint's side.

All he saw was blood across his father's chest.

"Where's Lucas?" Claus asked him.

Flint shook his head and Claus, without thinking about it, rushed past his father and out of the house. He heard his father call his name and try to follow but Claus ran and ran.

He could find Lucas. He knew he could, he had to be out there somewhere! Claus could just feel that Lucas was out there somewhere and he was going to find him if it was the last thing he ever did.

Stumbling through Sunshine Forest, Claus peered into the shadows of the darkening forest. He struggled through the underbrush until he slumped at the edge of the burned forest. Tessie had led them this way--him and Lucas--through the burned part of the forest last night, after his dad had his breakdown.

Claus rubbed at his eyes, trying to stop himself from crying. He was the older brother and even if Lucas wasn't here, he couldn't cry. Claus had to be strong, even when he was alone.

Taking a deep breath, Claus pushed himself back to his feet and kept walking deeper into the forest. A couple of yammonsters, baked as they were from the fire, popped up from the eart and chittered at him. Claus ignored them.

He only stopped to grab a slightly singed stick, so he had something to defend himself with. Sure maybe a stick wasn't that good but--Claus shook his head. Whatever, it didn't matter. He just needed to find Lucas and then they could go home and Dad would apologize for saying Lucas was gone and.

Claus stopped as he found the fire from the night before. He stared at the ashes and wood before sitting down next to the old fire. Their grandfather's house was not too far from here and Claus wondered if he was there now or if he was back in Tazmily.

Deciding to check anyway, Claus got up and headed to Alec's home. His grandfather would help him find Lucas. He had to, right? Alec promised to be there for them...

He stopped at the edge where the forest met the dry lands. Something--stopped him. Claus recognized the feeling--the last time he'd gotten a feeling like that when Boney had broken his leg and been in a lot of pain. Claus had found Boney and Lucas had helped him put the leg bone back into place together.

Looking around, Claus spotted the baby drago he and Lucas had played together only a couple days ago. That felt like it'd happened weeks ago but Claus approached it. For all that he was angry about the drago that had killed Hinawa, the baby drago was his and Lucas' friend first and foremost. After all, getting mad at it would be like getting mad at Lucas over Mom's death.

Claus pet the drago on the head and it chirred happily at him before bumping his arm with its head and tugging on his clothes. It looked like it wanted to show him something and Claus hesitated: What if, somehow, this was a trap?

But Lucas would trust it...If Lucas was here, he'd be trying to convince Claus to follow it, to see what it wanted to show them.

(A boy named Claus can’t trust others like his brother can)

The baby drago led him further into the forest, away from the area he knew the dragos lived. Had they left because of the killer drago? Claus kind of wished he had listened to his dad, to hear what else he'd found but...hearing him say that Lucas was dead had sent Claus running.

He still couldn't believe that Lucas dead. Claus was sure he'd know that Lucas was gone--that he'd know. And that 'knowing' feeling hadn't come to him. That must mean Lucas had to still be alive right.

Claus shook his head and reached over, putting a hand on the baby drago's head. He flinched as the baby drago led him to a large dark shadow. It was the darker green drago--the father. Claus remembered his grandfather telling him that light green adult dragos were female and the dark green were male.

This was the baby drago's father.

He chirred softly at Claus, bumping his chin lightly against Claus' red hair. He seemd to be trying to comfort Claus and the boy smiled sadly, patting the father drago's leg. "I'm--Fine." That was a lie--but he had to be fine, right?

The father drago chirred again but before Claus could try to reassure him again, there was an explosion in the distance. Claus jolted and turned his gaze towards a plume of smoke that raced into the sky.

Claus hesitated before he began heading in the direction of the smoke. The father drago and baby drago started following on his heels, the latter making quick chirping noises the whole way. Claus glanced back once, as if expecting them to leave, but they just stopped, waiting for Claus to keep walking.

He hummed to himself and rushed to the smoke. His feet pounded across the ashy forest floor and he paused among the trees when he finally spotted the source of the smoke. It wasn't another fire but instead some weird metal contraption.

Old man Wess, a weird monkey, and a pink haired woman stood together, staring at the broken metal contraption. The woman seemed satisfied that it was broken and Claus...kind of figured she must've been the one to break that thing.

Maybe no one needed his help after all? Claus stepped backwards, hesitating until some strange men(?) appeared, wearing round helmets and were oinking angrily. They followed a strange man that Claus thought he might've seen in Tazmily earlier, but he...might be wrong on that.

He couldn't hear what they were saying to Wess' group, but it was clearly trouble judging by how they were now backing away from the masked men. Another metal contraption rolled up as well, rolling right over the remains of the previous one.

Claus didn't wait to see more, instead storming into the clearing of burnt trees and ash. Even if it was just these three people that he saved, at least it was someone.

It would never make up for his mother and Lucas' deaths, but it was a start.

* * *

(A boy named Claus wanted his dead brother back.)


	2. smell of bread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta`d by my gf Laura! (@dolfabre)

Claus leaned back against the fencing, watching his father shear one of the family sheep. Once he would be inside the pasture and shearing the sheep with him, but...well, Claus had taken over the duties of keeping the house tidy and nice over the past couple years.

It would be a lie to say he wished that Lucas had been with him those years: He was the one who had always helped their mother to take of their home. The thought of his brother stung, like it always did, and Claus let the thoughts go.

Thinking about Lucas wouldn't bring him back--especially since it'd been almost three years since he...died.

Even if Lucas was still alive somewhere, the chances they might find him were extremely low. Because if he was alive and hadn't come back on his own--or at least told someone where he was from--he probably didn't remember them.

That thought stung too and Claus sighed. Just standing around always left him thinking about things like this: things he couldn't control or couldn't change. He knew it was a bad habit but he couldn't help it, when he was left to his own devices.

Maybe that was why Lucas had always tended to over think, before. It made some sense yet Claus knew that wasn't the only reason: Lucas had been the over thinker, Claus the hasty doer. It was just part of their personalities--even if he was sure that the sitting around cleaning might have something to do with it.

"Claus?" He jolted and glanced over his shoulder at his father. Flint adjusted the rim of his hat, watching him and said, "You seem...bored. Why don't you head into town?"

He faltered before turning around to face Flint. "Don't you need me here?"

Flint shook his head with a faint smile. "I'm almost done here--and you've finished your chores right? Why not go and hang out with Fuel while I finish up." His father patted the sheep he's almost finished shearing.

As much as he did want to hang out with Fuel, Claus knew he was currently at work at the bakery. Which--that wasn't to say Claus didn't work there himself. He just hesitated to say as much to his father.

For the past six months, he'd been working at Caroline's bakery to earn some extra DP. The wool from their sheep hadn't been making nearly enough in a long while and so Fuel had suggested working with him at Caroline's bakery.

Fuel and his father had been going through something similar, except instead of not making enough from what they were selling they just weren't able to keep up with orders. With all the new buildings and buildings getting expansions, lumber was in high demand and well--four people could only make so much lumber.

So now they both worked at the bakery. Claus knew they weren't making a super ton--they were just kids and could only help so much--but it was enough to make ends meet for him and his father. Fuel, though...well, Claus knew there was a reason Lighter worked a second job at the factory.

Of course, for all that he was working a job at the bakery, Claus hadn't said a word of it to Flint. He snuck the money into their account, praying that no one would notice, least of all Flint.

Claus wondered if Flint did know. Why else would he suggest Claus going into town to 'hang out' with Fuel? But he let the paranoia go for now, smiling weakly at his father. "Uh, yeah alright, Dad. Be careful, okay?"

He shuffled away down the path from his home, pausing only for a heartbeat to make a face at a blond man and a pigmask, the former gasping something about 'lightning houses.' What was that about?

The worn dirt path faded into old cobblestone and then into concrete as Claus rapidly walked from what was commonly referred to as 'Old Tazmily' and into 'New Tazmily.' The new area was mostly just the center of town, with most of the buildings rebuilt with more modern things like running water and lighting.

It would be a lie to say that some of the stuff the pigmasks had brought to Tazmily was bad--Claus did like some of it. But the tone of the village and the way people had started treating one another since the changes began made Claus itch with anger.

Claus didn't know if the cons outweigh the pros or vice versa.

As soon as Fassad's dulcet voice reached his ears, though, Claus immediately decided that, yes, the cons did outweigh the pros. Anything that brought Fassad with it had to be bad.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to ignore the peddler. It was a little hard, as he still had to pass where Fassad was standing in the center of town, but he succeeded. Hinawa and Lucas would be so proud.

Angie looked up, already chirping a greeting when she realized it was just him. "Hey, Claus." Angie swept her bangs out of her eyes. "Here to work? Fuel is in the back."

"Sure." Claus shrugged. "If you need the help, anyway."

She snorted as she adjusted some of the nutbread on display. "We always need help, Claus." Angie waved him into the backroom and Claus decided to just go into the back. No need to argue with Angie on this--and he always needed extra DP.

Fuel was back there, his tongue poking out between his lips as he concentrated on the dough in front of him. Claus watched him for a couple of minutes before clearing his throat, making Fuel lose his concentration and look up at him. "Claus!" Fuel gasped, grinning like a maniac. "Hey, when'd you get here?"

"Just now." Claus looked around the kitchen, wondering what he should pick up. "Need help with that?" He gestured at the dough under Fuel's hands.

He shook his head and said, "Naw, I've got this, Claus. I think you can mix some dough over there--Caroline was gonna finish it, but she got called to pick up some nuts." Fuel nodded to the small fridge, where in progress dough mixes were left.

Claus shrugged lightly and headed over to the fridge, pulling the bowl he found inside out. Just as Fuel said, there was nut dough left inside the bowl and Claus let out a sigh. At least it didn't seem like it'd been left in the fridge for too long to go bad.

Going to work, the two thirteen year old boys were quiet for a little while. Usually, Fuel would've started talking about something but today he seemed to be looking up and then down at his dough. Like he wanted to say something but didn't know what to say, exactly.

He was pretty sure he knew what Fuel wanted to say.

Claus braced himself, waiting for it--and then was surprised when Fuel said, "So how was your birthday?"

"It was--fine." Lonely, he thought to himself. Birthday parties used to be a whole town affair. These days? He was lucky if anyone looked at him without a sneer on their face, whispering something about Happy Boxes or dead brothers.

He swallowed his frustration. Claus had been trying to be kinder, like Lucas, but it was hard. He didn't get how Lucas could be so forgiving, how he could just smile and say 'I forgive you' to people who hurt him. It made him wish Lucas was there even more, because maybe Tazmily would be a better place.

Fuel cleared his throat. "I--wanted to come, you know. But you didn't say anything, so I thought--I thought you might want to be alone."

Alone? Oh, right. He'd yelled at Fuel on his twelfth birthday, because he'd wanted his family back in one piece. Claus had apologized later but he could understand why Fuel might feel that way.

Claus frowned to himself. "Sorry. It ended up just being me and Dad--but I guess that's better than no one." He hissed in annoyance as he tugged the spoon he was using to mix the dough free.

"True. I think I'd be pretty lonely if my dad couldn't be around for my birthday." Fuel let out a cry of triumph as he finished taking care of his nut dough. Claus made a noise of agreement as Fuel started putting the dough into the pans for the oven.

The ovens were, of course, some of the only things in the kitchen that were still old fashioned. Caroline swore by them, claiming that they were the only reason her goods were as tasty as they were. Claus still hadn't gotten the hang of using them, so only Fuel, Angie, and Caroline were allowed to use the ovens.

He tapped his spoon against the dough bowl as Fuel put the bread pan into the oven. Caroline peeked in, the first time he had seen the woman that day, and said, "We've got a big order, you two. We have enough up front, but--Fuel, if you could start gathering the nutbread and breadrolls that have already been baked, that would be wonderful."

Fuel made a noise of agreement and started bustling around the containers with the fresh bread inside. Claus rolled his eyes skyward as he finished off the dough he was mixing and put away in a fridge to rise. Yeesh, who could buy that much bread? It'd go stale before they could eat it all!

A loud oinking sound echoed back into the kitchen.

Oh. Claus made a face as he started preparing another bowl of dough. Of course it was a pigmask. It couldn’t be anyone else.

* * *

Caroline closed down the shop, closing the front store display racks to keep the bread fresh. How it worked, Claus had no idea, but if it meant their hard work wasn't wasted he could kind of care less.

But before he could leave, Caroline cornered him.

"What's wrong, Miss Caroline?" Claus forced politeness into his voice. Even if he didn't appreciate being cornered, he knew he had to be polite to the person he worked for. That’s just how it’s always been, DP or no.

The woman clasped her hands in front of her. "Claus, you don't have to come into work tomorrow. I did give you yesterday, today, and tomorrow off, after all."

Claus went still. He'd been wondering when someone would bring that up. Yet Claus had hoped no one would bring it up because the reminder was harsh. It was hard to move on, when everyone kept reminding him that yeah, his mother and brother were dead.

He looked at her once before turning his head towards the sun as it slowly itched ever west. "Are you sure?" He asked, his voice distant even to his ears.

"Yes, Claus." Caroline frowned down at him, as if surprised by the distant cool tone of his voice. "Take the day off--spend it with your father or alone--whatever helps, Claus."

She sounded so eager and Claus took a deep breath to steady himself. "...Alright. I'll. Stay home. Goodbye, Miss Caroline." Almost robotically, Claus turned away and started walking to the Elder's Paradise. The path up to where Wess' house used to be was silent: Very few people ever visited the place anymore.

Claus grumbled to himself at the thought because even if Wess, and Alec, and Mike were old and maybe not the best people, that didn't mean they should just be squirreled away in a corner to be forgotten. It didn't help that it almost seemed like the more everyone tried to forget them, the more the old people started to forget who they were too.

Like how Alec hadn't left the Elder's Paradise to visit Hinawa's grave, yesterday.

It left a bad taste in his mouth and Claus found himself stomping now up the rest of the path. Before he stomped through the old floorboards of the shoddy building, Claus calmed himself down. Deep breaths, in and out like the waves of the sea. It didn't always help but this time it did, just enough that he wasn't stomping anymore.

He was still kind of frustrated, though.

Claus nodded to Linda and the other volunteers that worked in the Elder's Paradise. They each smiled and waved back, used to Claus visiting his grandfather and old man Wess. Alec was always the one he visited first and he poked his head into the small jail-like room that his grandfather slept in.

Alec was laid out on his bed, his back to the door and Claus wondered if he'd even heard the door open. Which was bad because that door squeaked so badly Claus was sure his father heard it from the other side of town. "Grandpa?" Claus called into the room, stepping in and closing the door behind him.

His grandfather stirred and sat up, yawning. "Claus?" Alec muttered. "What are you doing up right now? It's late."

"It's three in the afternoon, Grandpa." Claus pointed out, crossing the room to sit at the foot of Alec's bed.

Alec blinked at him, clearly surprised. "It is? Huh...I must've missed noon passing. I should probably head to Hinawa's grave, shouldn't I..."

Claus frowned, biting the inside of his cheek. "Grandpa, Mom's anniversary was yesterday." He watched as Alec's expression morphed from surprise to horror and then guilt.

His grandfather looked down at his hands, still looking guilty. "It was yesterday? But I swore...that it was supposed to be today?" Alec looked so helplessly guilty and confused.

"It’s okay, Grandpa. Mom would forgive you." _Which means I've got to try._ "...Lucas' is tomorrow." Claus tacked on, hoping that Alec would remember when the night passed and the sun rose the next day.

Alec nodded slowly. "I--I'll write it down, somewhere, so I don't forget again..." He stared sorrowfully at the Happy Box that flashed quietly and cheerfully in the corner. Claus shot it a dark look before he patter his grandfather's leg.

He looked up and met Claus' gaze. "Let's just talk for a little bit, Grandpa," Claus said, "About our days and stuff."

His grandfather smiled and they talked, just like Claus suggested. Alec's day was the same, as it always was, a monotone day of resting in his paper thin bed and paper thin covers, with the Happy Box flashing in the corner of the room.

Claus told him about work, which was almost as monotone. The only difference was that Claus' day had Fuel and Angie and Caroline, who tried to make the monotone days colorful. It didn't--work, really. His days were just as colored in shades of gray as Alec's were.

That fact, that thought, hit Claus like a truck of bricks. There was no real difference between them, besides their ages and the way they were trying to deal with the world. Alec was quiet and miserable, curled up in this hole of a home. Claus was angry, silent and bursting and trying to cover it with Lucas' kindness and Hinawa's refinement.

He clenched his hands against his stomach as it churned with bitter bile. Claus was just trying so hard to be someone he wasn't and he wondered if he could ever be better.

If being better would make up for Hinawa and Lucas being dead.

Eventually, Alec drifted off and fell asleep. Claus tried his best to tuck a blanket around his grandfather's shoulders and left. He still wanted to see Wess, just before he left because--he wanted to know if Kumatora had come back yet or even just sent a message.

Wess looked up when he peeked in. "Hey kid." He grunted turning from the door and glowering at his Happy Box, with a cloth covering its screen. The light flickered through the cloth but it wasn't as bright as the screen light in Alec's room.

"Hey, old man." Claus sniffed, not even trying to be polite. They always spat bile at each other, because they couldn't spit it at the pigmasks. Better to spit at someone who wouldn't take it personally and not let it fester in their hearts.

The old man shifted another cloth--a ratty blanket--onto the Happy Box. "You here about the Princess, again?"

Claus sighed. Why did Wess call Kumatora a princess? She didn't seem like one to him. "Have you heard from Kumatora?" He asked, somewhat desperate for a break from the realization of his monotone days.

"...No." Wess murmured, his back still to Claus. "Seems like she's still somewhere where she can't send any messages. Not that we even know she's even alive--" He cringed at that, as if he thought Claus might not handle it well.

He just wrinkled his nose at Wess. Did he really think a girl who could blow up a pork tank would die that easily? For a moment he thought about and thought 'Well, maybe' before trying to stop on his pessimism. Claus had to believe she was still alive.

Claus didn't want to watch someone else he knew be buried.

"Whatever." Claus muttered. "If you don't know about her than you probably don't know about Mister Duster either?" He'd never been close to Wess' son but he was kind of more pleasant than Wess was.

Wess snorted. "You're polite about my moron son but not me huh? The answer is no, kid." The old man gently preened the dove nested on the table next to the Happy Box.

Claus watched him for several long moments before sighing. "Yeah, alright fine. See you later, Wess." The man grunted and the red head boy turned away from him. This visit was pointless--but then, when wasn't a visit with Wess pointless?

At least Claus felt like Alec cared when he visited.

He rubbed his temples as he left the Elder's Paradise. Hadn't he just been relieved he could spit insults at Wess and not have the old man be insulted by it? Why did he constantly contradict himself like this?

Walking home was, thankfully, not a nightmare. Fassad was no longer in the center of town, going wherever he did when he wasn't chanting about Happy Boxes to brainwashed townspeople. Most of the people in the town seemed content to ignore him as a result and he let his relief wash away his annoyance and frustration from the day.

Claus almost considered himself home free from interpersonal relationships for the day when Fuel seemingly appeared by his shoulder. Claus muffled his yell into his hands and took a couple steps back from the brunet boy.

"What the heck, Fuel." He hissed. "What--?"

Fuel dropped two things in his arms. "I wanted to give this to you earlier, but I didn't go to your party and I didn't think I'd see you until the day after tomorrow. So here's your birthday present and--something to give Lucas." Fuel explained quickly.

He stared at Fuel, baffled by his sudden appearance. "...Right?" Claus looked down at the items before looking back up to Fuel. "Why are you giving these to me right now?" Or more like 'why are you giving me something for Lucas' grave?'

"I--Like I said, tomorrow is really busy for me and my dad and I won't be able to do it so I thought I'd just give it to you now?" Fuel gave him a guilty look, as if he wanted to apologize right now.

Shaking his head, Claus said, "Alright. Alright--I'd still like it you went to see Lucas' grave, though, if you get the chance." For all that the people in Tazmily did avoid him and Flint during these days, they also seemed to forget that Lucas even existed, once.

When they did, it was to berate Claus, because 'You're such a brat' or 'Lucas would've accepted the changes in Tazmily.'

Claus resisted his urge to snort right then and there because wasn't that bratty? Using a dead boy to shame his twin brother? Fuel cleared his throat and Claus shook his head to clear it of his thoughts. "What is it, Fuel?"

"I'll visit when I can, Claus," Fuel said. "I--I'm gonna head home now, okay? You'll be okay, right?"

He frowned. "...Yeah, I'll be fine. Goodnight, Fuel." Fuel replied with his own goodbye before hurrying off, his red and white shirt disappearing in the haze of the darkening sky and setting sun.

Claus looked down at the items Fuel had given him. The bigger one, long and heavy, was a practice wooden sword, which he actually did appreciate: His easy-grip stick he used to practice on the chimera in Sunshine Forest was starting to fall apart.

The other item was a simple sunflower shaped badge. Claus ran a thumb across the front of the small badge, thinking. Lucas might've liked this--sunflowers had been his favorite, just like they were their mom's favorite.

...Alright, he'd leave this with Lucas, when he went to the graves tomorrow.

* * *

Flint watched him intently, when Claus came home.

His father had finished his side of the chores, just as he said he would that morning. The sheep were sheared and the pasture's damage have been repaired and while there was the lingering scent of lightning, the damage done from the lightning strikes was swept away.

Of course, none of that actually explained why Flint watched Claus like a hawk. It felt weird, to be under such scrutiny by his dad: Flint had been one of the few people in Tazmily had left Claus to deal with his grief alone--or at least mostly alone. He'd kept an eye on him to stop from trying to do something...hasty but otherwise let him deal with the grief in his own way.

Which mostly consisted of him asking Flint to teach him how to fight.

His thought, back then, was that even if he couldn't've save his mom and brother, Claus could try and make sure he never lost anyone else again. It--didn't help, much at the start. Flint had casually knocked him down as gently as he could during a practice fight until Claus eventually exhausted himself.

It was six months after Lucas died that Claus finally broke down and cried on his father's shoulder. He still continued to learn to fight but by then it was because he wanted to and not just because it was the only way to keep himself sane.

Claus sighed, patted Boney's head, and said, "Dad, why are you staring at me?"

Flint paused before breaking his gaze away from Claus. "Was I? Sorry, Claus. I was just thinking." The shepherd placed an omelet on a plate and placed it at one of the spots at the table.

"Thinking about what?" Claus asked, sitting down at the spot because he knew that was his seat at this table.

His father tapped his fingers on the counters of their tiny kitchen before he said, "I was just wondering how long you're going to wait until you told me about your job with Caroline."

Claus coughed and choked for a moment. He'd thought his dad had known, that morning, but he had just thought he was paranoid--it seemed his paranoia was true after all. "I--uh, I don't know what you mean, dad?" He lied.

"Claus." Flint adjusted his hat. "Caroline talked to me earlier while you were visiting Alec. She wanted to know why you came into work today, is all."

He scowled. Of course she ratted him out--even if she didn't mean to. Claus had told her that Flint had his permission to work there, so why wouldn't she talked to his dad about it?

Flint reached over and placed a hand on his head, waiting for Claus' response. It took a moment before Flint decided to continue when it was obvious that Claus didn't want to say anything. "I know things are hard these days, with DP. But Claus? You could've just said you wanted to help out more."

"With what?," Claus said icily, "The stuff we make--It's not enough. Even working at the bakery is barely enough to keep stuff together and--! Especially because we have to rebuild the damage done to our house and if I just stand around at home for more than a few minutes I might just snap and break something." _And we can't afford to have something be broken_ , Claus thought.

His father didn't pull his hand back. "Claus. All I'm saying--Is that I wish you were honest and told me yourself. That's all."

Claus wished Flint wasn't so calm and collected. He kind of wished to hear his dad snap and scold and get angry--he wanted to feel less like a freak for feeling so angry all the time.

"Whatever." He muttered as what was left of his appetite vanished into the ether. "I'm not hungry anymore--I'm going to bed." Claus ducked out from under Flint's hand and scuttled away to the beds hidden in the next room.

Flint didn't call after him. That was--the usual, when Claus got angry about anything. Hinawa would've followed, would've known how to calm him down. But Flint...as much as he loved his dad, Flint wasn't as good at being soft and calming.

No one still alive in their family was.

Wasn't that funny, he thought as he curled up alone in his bed he once shared. Wasn't it hilarious funny that the parts of his family that he lost as been the ones that were calm and gentle and soothing--the parts the world needed to have.

Instead all that was left were the brittle parts, the ones that if you pushed just right and just hard enough they break like a cracked tea cup.

Claus let out a shuddering breath and clenched his hands on the sheets as he heard Boney scamper into the room and jump onto his bed. Boney's wet nose pressed against his cheek and then pulled back as the dog flopped down next to Claus, clearly intending to sleep next to him tonight instead of out in his dog house. Claus wasn't going to stop him.

Instead, he curled up even more until he was a tight ball, his eyes shut tightly as he willed himself to go to sleep. He's not sure when sleep came, when he opened his eyes and saw sunflowers upon sunflower, but it didn't matter.

Because here in his dreams he could pretend Lucas was still alive.

His brother was waiting in the sunflowers, as always. His face looked like Claus'--and Claus wasn't sure if that was because he couldn't imagine Lucas looking different from him or if they'd really look the same. Claus wished it was the latter.

"Hey, Lucas." Claus muttered as Lucas silently held out his hand. He took it and let his brother pull him up to his feet. "How're you?"

Lucas made a vague gesture with his right hand--his only hand. The gesture was the one the agreed was the 'sort of maybe' gesture. Claus frowned at it and grasped Lucas hand with his own.

They stared at each other's clasped hands and Claus said, "Anything I can do to help?" Lucas shook his head and Claus let out a breath. This was the same, every dream. Lucas was always 'sort of maybe' okay, and Claus wondered if that was because this Lucas was just...him trying to work through his grief or something.

Maybe when Lucas was finally okay, that meant Claus had finally moved on. And maybe that was why Lucas would never say he was okay--because Claus would no longer dream of him. What a crappy way to try and move on.

"Want to just hang out?" Claus asked.

Lucas nodded and the two of them did the same thing as always: Wander through the sunflowers until they found a cliff. When they find the cliff's edge, the two of them flop down there and leaned on each other, staring into the horizon.

Claus told him about his day then, about going to work and Fuel's gifts and Wess and Caroline. Half of it's just complaining and while he did wish his ever silent brother would say something back, Claus was also content with just having someone listen.

"--It's just a little frustrating, you know? I wish Dad would just trust in me, you know?" Claus leaned his chin on his hands, glowering towards the horizon. He watched the clouds roll by. "He just--he's too overprotective, I feel like. I know why, but still."

A wind rolled over the field of sunflowers and Claus made a face as the sunflower petals got stuck in his hair. He shook his head, trying to get the petals free when he felt Lucas tug on his shirt.

He looked at his brother. "What's wrong?"

"Claus," Lucas said, "Something bad is coming and I'm so sorry. It's all my fault and I can't stop it, so--Please, Claus."

His hands were shaking, suddenly, as the fact that Lucas was talking hit him. Claus reached out, trying to grasp Lucas' shoulders because there was something wrong. "Okay, Lucas, you don't have to apologize--" He shuddered as he realized that his hands wouldn't grasp Lucas' shoulders.

Lucas shook his head. "I'm sorry. Please, when it comes, I want you to sto--" His voice faded out again, like it had never been, but Lucas didn't seem to notice as the rest of his body began to fade out along with his voice.

Claus panicked, trying to grasp onto Lucas. "I--yeah, okay, Lucas! I'll stop whatever it is you want me to stop, just come back!"

Despite his pleas, Lucas was still gone and Claus leapt to his feet, swinging around to look at the sunflowers--but they were dead, gray and wilted, across the ground. Claus gasped as the wail of a hurt and angry drago rocketed across the landscape.

"Lucas!" Claus screamed. "Please--Please come back? I'm sorry, don't--Don't leave me alone like this!"

The rolling clouds from earlier darkened as they roiled over the blue sky, painting the landscape a deep gray. All the color seemed to wash out of the field of dying sunflowers. Thunder crackled and Claus felt his knees give out from under him.

The dead grass under his knees itched and Claus wanted to pull it up, all of it up, so that maybe something healthy could grow out of all this death. The thought made him grit his teeth and his eyes water. Dead, like the brother that had never actually been there, had just been an illusion his own head made to try and make him feel better.

Something whirled to life behind him, clinking like the machinery he'd seen the pigmasks use. Claus didn't look; he didn't care what it was or what happened. All he cared about was the reminder that he was always going to be the worst example of an older brother.

He didn't really feel it as something burned like fire against his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> random unrelated headcanon time
> 
> lucas is left handed and claus is right handed
> 
> the water in the hotsprings on the nowhere islands can't leave the hotsprings which is why people are always dry when they leave the hotsprings.


	3. to the factory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta`d by my gf laura <3 (@dolfrabe)

Claus woke up and stared at the wooden ceiling. There were tears in his eyes and he frowned. Why was he crying again? He didn't remember crying last night, because there hadn't been anything to make him cry.

Even if there had been, he didn't know why he'd cry anyway. Claus had sworn years ago that he wouldn't cry, ever, not when his brother and mother were dead. Maybe that was a stupid promise but he still felt stupid for not keeping to his promise. Like he'd broken something sacred.

He huffed to himself before pushing the covers back. Boney was gone, probably outside with his father and the sheep. His clothes were itchy and gross as they stuck to him, the same clothes he'd worn the day before. Claus tugged the old, dirty clothes off and searched for clean ones, digging deep into his wardrobe.

It was more of the same as he pulled out another blue and yellow striped shirt out, pulling it on along with a pair of orange denim pants. Claus lazily brushed his hair, quick and easy. He swept his hair behind his ear and stood up, stopping at where he had put his new wooden sword and the sunflower badge. Claus snagged them both, slipping the badge into his pocket before he headed outside.

Flint was hunched over the half broken pasture, the wood stained with ash. Boney barked at Claus sorrowfully and bumped his nose against Claus' hand when the red head approached them. "When did this happen?" Claus asked, aghast.

"Early this morning." Flint grunted. "Guess whatever causes this lightning didn't think we should have a quiet day today."

Claus clutched his wooden sword and huffed. "Well whatever that is, its a jerk." He still can't believe some sort of god or whatever would lash out at people just because they didn't get some stupid Happy Box. Those things gave him a headache.

His father made a soft noise of agreement before he looked up. "I'm going to do some quick repair for the sheep--You can go on ahead to the graves." Flint looked back down at the broken roof of the pasture laying out in the middle of the pasture itself.

He frowned at the broken bits and wondered. "Shouldn't I help?" Claus muttered, stepping closer ot his father.

Flint flicked the rim of his hat up to look at Claus. "Son, I can handle this. I'm old--but not that old." He chuckled quietly while Claus flushed. He hadn't been trying to imply he was old!

Claus huffed. "Alright, fine. I'll go on ahead--is it okay if I take Boney with me?" Flint nodded as he went back to hammering the new make shift fence he was working on. Claus looked down at Boney and nodded: Time to go.

Boney barked excitedly at him as the duo left the house and went back up the path to New Tazmily. The blond man from yesterday was back again, still going on about lightning houses and Claus scowled as he finally understood what he was going on about. Did people really call their house the 'lightning house?'

He stuffed his free hand into the pocket where the sunflower badge was and just ran his thumb over it again and again while he headed through town. Fassad was again in the center of town, going on about Happy Boxes as usual. Claus took the long way around, careful to keep Boney away from the peddler. He didn't want to risk Boney getting hurt because the dog decided to try and chew Fassad's face off.

The citizens of Tazmily at least knew to leave him and Flint alone today. These three days were the days most people held the broken family at arm’s length. Mostly because after the first anniversary, when Claus had actually bit another kid who had pushed him around. Granted, Claus still got into fights with newer kids who made fun of his mother and Lucas, but that was usually just punches, bruises and such.

That time? That time had been brutal.

Claus huffed as he and Boney crossed into the large clearing Mr. Leder's bell used to be. Now there was a massive train station and a pair of smaller one floor houses. New residents and visitors, strangers alike, milled around the crossroads, some sitting down and talking together and others just. Not.

The latter weirded Claus out every time he saw them, but what did he know about people from outside Tazmily? Maybe it was normal out there to just kind of stand around looking like you were in a daze.

...Okay, probably not. But it wasn't as if Claus could really do anything about it, right? Thirteen year old boys didn't have much power, not in this world.

Shaking his head, he pushed on, Boney barking at his heels. The graveyard was as empty as always, except for Nippolyte, whom was digging into the soft purple clay of the main graveyard. There was a box next to him and for a moment Claus wondered if the rumor about zombies was true.

Claus shook his head. Even if there was a bunch of zombies under his feet, there was almost no way to prove it one way or another. They probably showed up at night but--well, Claus wasn't going to come to a graveyard at night just to confirm that. 

"Hi, Mr. Nippolyte." Claus greeted the man as he passed the graveyard caretaker. "How've you been?"

The old man chuckled quietly as he leaned on the shovel. "The same as when you asked two days ago, Claus. I'm tired but alright." He looked back at the hole he was prepping before nodding towards the path that led to the newer part of the cemetery. "I suppose you're here to visit your brother? Say hi for me, won't you?" Nippolyte nodded again, this time at Claus.

He nodded once at the old caretaker before he jogged down the path. The first new tombstone he spotted was the one of old Scamp--who'd died six months ago, old age finally catching up to him. There weren't any others in sight, a blessing, until he reached the cliff that overlooked Murasaki Forest. Sunflowers peeked up around the tombstones, planted by Claus himself months ago.

There was no sign anyone else had been there recently. Claus let out a sigh of relief because he most definitely didn't want to deal with anyone else right now. Nippolyte or his own father he could handle; anyone else would be a burden.

Claus knelt down in front of Lucas' tombstone, pulling Fuel's present for Lucas out of his pocket. He put the sunflower badge at the foot of the tombstone, crossing his legs as he did so. "Hey, Lucas," Claus said, "It's been, what, a month since I visited? Sorry for old showing up only now."

He patted his knees. "Dad finally found out about my job--or I guess, finally told me he knew. And--Fuel got you this badge. It's just a sunflower, super basic but...well, we all knew what your efavorite flower was, even if you never said it." Claus paused, not sure what to say now. He felt like he'd already said everything he could to Lucas which was--silly.

"...I wish you were here, Lucas." Claus finally muttered, letting his thoughts go. "I miss you and so does Dad--I wish I'd talked to you more instead of yelling at you. If I had we could've gotten to Dad and then gotten a bunch of people to go looking to figure everything out." _But I didn't_ , he thought to himself, _instead I yelled at you and you ran away to do it by yourself._

_We're twins and I forced you to be alone. And now I am too._

Claus jolted as Boney pressed his wet nose against his elbow. He grumbled at the dog before ruffling his ears, letting out a sigh. "Haaa, what am I talking about? It's been so long...I feel like an old person, whining about their childhood." He paused, glancing back at the tombstone. "...I should try and move on, right, Lucas? That's what everyone says I should do but I..."

 _If I move on, will I forget you?_ Claus shuddered at the thought: If moving on meant forgetting, he didn't want to move on. But no one seemed to know, really, how moving on even worked. What was he even supposed to do?

He ran his hands down his face and sat down while Boney curled around him. "I don't want to forget." He told the dog. "But I don't want to get lost in the past either, you know?"

Boney whined and bumped his nose against Claus' elbow again. It was still wet and cold and Claus let out a breath, rubbing the dog's ears. He muttered a quiet thank you and looked back at Lucas' tombstone. "I'm going to go remind Grandpa to come and visit, okay? Dad will come by soon, too, though." Claus stood up and patted the stone.

It was even colder than Boney's nose.

Claus leaned over and patted his mother's tombstone too. "See you later, mom." He turned and walked down the path with Boney trailing behind him as usual. The trek was far less eventful than his trek up, with Nippolyte having disappeared somewhere.

When they got back to the crossroads, though, a man dressed in punk clothing suddenly appeared before Claus. He flailed for a moment and took a step back as the man spoke. "See that guy wearing green clothes? He's an item storage guy! Apparently, he does it for free too." The punk man tapped a finger to his lips, as if surprised by that fact.

"...Right, okay." Claus muttered, edging around the punk. He didn't seem to notice as the 13 year old red head hurried off. Which was for the best, because Claus really had no idea how to deal with that? Because that was weird.

Of course it a little nice to see someone being willing to do stuff like that for free--like things sort of used to be like.

 _Ugh, gross_ , he thought, _I'm being nostalgic._ Claus shook his head and jogged back towards the main town, thinking that maybe he'd stop by that new flower shop on his way back with Alec when Jackie and Bronson stepped off the train platform and almost right into him.

"Oh, whoops!" Jackie steadied Claus before he fell. "Sorry about that, Claus, we were talking."

Bronson sighed. "Talking about things that're blantantly untrue. Lucky isn't Duster, Jackie, I'm telling you." Jackie huffed at his words and Claus leaned back, startled, as they walked away, still arguing. Duster? Claus was aware that he'd gone missing but...

What was it that Kumatora had said, back then...?

* * *

_Kumatora wiped away the dust and blood from her face, bearing her teeth in a vicious grin. "Now that we got intros outta the way…Nice job, kid. If you hadn't shown up with those dragos, we would've been in trouble."_

_"Uh, sure." Claus muttered, glancing at the departing dragos in question. The father had all but tore through those weird pig guys, which was fair considering they might have something to do with the other drago. The mother, who Claus hadn't seen any sign of._

_The three humans and monkey went quiet then, unsure of what else to say. Claus fidgeted under Wess' scrutiny before, finally, the old man spoke up. "Claus what are you doing out? Isn't your father and grandfather still looking for Lucas?" Wess crossed his arms and frowned disapprovingly._

_Claus felt the blood drain from his face and his shoulders raise, looking down at his feet. He can't--He clenched his hands at his sides. "Dad came home. They found--" Enough, that they thought his brother was dead._

_Wess stared and then made a soft sound of horror, as if he had just realized what Claus meant. "I--I see. ...I'm sorry, Claus." He bowed his head to Claus before turning to Kumatora, solemnly serious. "Princess, I suppose you'll be heading off to try and find Duster now?"_

_"Yeah." She looked between the two of them, clearly confused by what they were talking about. "I figure I'll help Salsa find his girlfriend and then I'll track down Duster. I'm sure he's fine." Kumatora looked down at the monkey as she spoke._

_Was the monkey Salsa? Claus supposed that made sense but...How did she even know the monkey's name? He glanced down at the monkey too, watching as the monkey named Salsa waved at him. Guess it must be his name, Claus thought. It was still weird that Kumatora even knew the monkey's name, though._

_Kumatora clapped her hands. "So while I'm doing that--what're you two gonna do?"_

_"Try and stop those pigmasks from taking over Tazmily." Wess replied. "Bring back Duster safely, won't you?" Kumatora smirked, agreed, and turned away from the duo. Claus watched her and Salsa go, glancing at Wess because--he wanted to follow them._

_Wess shook his head and--_

* * *

She'd gone to go find Duster--So, it stood to reason that if that 'Lucky' was really Duster, Kumatora might be somewhere nearby. Claus frowned to himself as he thought. He could just go see Wess about it--Duster was his son. Yet...Claus looked down at his feet.

Wess drove him nuts, for all that he went and visited a lot. And he hadn't exactly kept to his word with stopping the pigmasks either. No one really seemed to care what Wess had to say, after the accusations made towards Duster. Accusations no one could prove actually happened, yet were still around.

Claus sighed. Well, he was heading to the Elder's paradise anyway to check up with his grandfather so there was no reason not to talk to Wess at the same time. Sighing again, Claus patted Boney on the head and headed back towards the town square.

Fassad was still there, chanting something about Happy Boxes. Before Claus could get too close, he heard Wess' voice start berating Fassad. Claus jogged forward, stopping just at the edge of the square proper. He was just in time to see Fassad give a faux hurt sigh. "Sir Wess, I do wish I knew why you seem so hateful towards us!" _It's because you guys suck._ "But I do think you should stop buzzing around like an irritating fly."

As if to punctuate his point, a pigmask that had been sneaking up behind Wess dropped a bug net onto his head. Wess struggled, yelling. "H-hey! Hey! I'm not a bug!" Claus watched in shock as Wess tried to free himself and was dragged away. Watched as no one at all kicked up a fess about Wess being treated like a cockroach.

He might not be fond of the old man, but that was going too far. Claus clenched his hands and strode forward, Boney on his heels, growling at Fassad as they passed him.

Instead of letting them pass Fassad hissed his name. "Going to cause more trouble, little Claus?" Claus felt this nostrils flare as he breathed out, stopping himself from yelling at the peddler. Louder, Fassad said, "Now, Claus, I do hope you and your father order a Happy Box soon! Your house will be protected and I'm sure your family will feel better!"

"Your stupid boxes can't bring my mom and brother back to life," Claus said coldly, "So they can't help us ‘feel better’." He spun and continued heading towards Elder's Paradise, clenching his hands in fury.

They crossed the bridge and Boney barked, pressing his nose against Claus' hand. The dog whined and Claus stopped, looking down at his hands. Crimson blood welled up on the palms of them, like bubbles of water. He grimaced: Had he really been clenching his hands that tightly?

Boney whined and Claus looked down at him with a pained smile. "I'm fine. Let's--go on to see Grandpa, okay?" The dog butted his head against Claus' hip and rushed forward, pausing at the foot of the path up to the building, barking at him.

Claus laughed and jogged over to the dog. Boney always had a way of cheering Claus up or calming him down--it was a good thing, he thought to himself, that Boney could do so. Maybe he should ask his dad if Boney could hang around with him more often. It'd be nice to be able to calm down quickly, instead of tearing up the palms of his hands when angry.

He stopped just inside of the rundown building, once more careful not to bust the floorboards. A couple of the volunteers shot Boney an unhappy look but didn't stop the duo from going upstairs to see Alec (and Wess).

Alec was bustling in his room, getting something together, when Claus entered. "Grandpa?" He muttered, confused by Alec's activity. He was usually just lying down, as if trying to sleep reality away. To see him up and moving around was good if strange.

"Oh, Claus!" His grandfather beamed at him. "How are you? I was just about to go visit Lucas' grave--and Hinawa's too, of course."

Claus tilted his head, deciding to worry about his grandfather's weird behavior later. "I'm--fine. Well, as fine as I can be today." Alec nodded in understanding and turned away, returning to what he was doing before Claus interrupted.

He watched Alec continue whatever it was he was doing before he spoke up. "Grandpa, what are you doing, exactly?" Claus frowned at him. It looked like he was gathering something but…

Alec looked up, tilting his head back at Claus. "Doing? Ah...I'm just getting some things. I thought we could have a sort of...picnic up there, to share with Hinawa and Lucas." Alec beamed at him and Claus swallowed.

"Oh." Claus muttered. "Okay."

His grandfather turned away from him and continued what he was doing. Claus watched him gather the things he wanted and then wrapped up the box filled with the items they would need for a picnic.

When he turned back to Claus, he smiled. "So, are we going to head out now?" Alec asked, holding up the box.

Claus stared at the box before taking a deep breath. "There's something I have to do first, but after...after I can go okay?" Alec seemed disappointed by Claus' response but accepting. He took a couple steps back, smiled at his grandfather as Boney barked a goodbye, and then left the room.

He knocked on the neighboring door. There was no response and Claus rolled his eyes, opening the door anyway. Wess was seated on the bed, his arms crossed as he sulked like a child. Claus rolled his eyes, gently pushed Boney into the room and closed the door behind them.

"Are you really going to act like a kid?" Claus asked, his hands on his hips. "Seriously. Angie is younger than me and she doesn't sulk as much as you do." Granted, when she did sulk, it was because Fuel had started teasing her again but whatever.

Wess snorted and didn't respond. Claus exchanged a look with Boney before stepping further into the room. He looked around, spotting the bug net that had probably been on his head earlier discarded in the corner of the room. Another sheet had been thrown over the Happy Box and he grimaced.

Alright, seriously? Was he going to have to scold a guy who was twice his dad's age?

Claus puffed out his cheeks. "Jackie said he saw Duster. Or someone who looked like him." That finally got Wess' attention, the man turning towards the boy. Wess' expression made Claus clench his hands again, ignoring the pain from his nails as they dash across the cuts on his palms.

"...Is that so?" Wess asked, his voice soft.

He paused and watched Wess for a couple seconds before Claus sighed. "Yes, that is the case. So...Are you going to do something about this?" He would, right? If it was him, Flint wouldn't stop until he knew for sure what had happened to him. Just like he had with Lucas.

Wess sighed and turned away again. The old man folded his legs on the bed and said, "I can't. The pigmasks are watching me and--If they find Duster, they'll do whatever they have to to get the information regarding that out of him."

Claus huffed. "I don't know what 'that' is. And--are you really not going to do anything? He's your son!" Why would anyone leave their child alone when they need their parents? Duster might be an adult, but it still counted!

"My doing something will put him danger!" Wess snapped over his shoulder. "Doing nothing here will keep him safer than if I went after him."

Clenching his hands and ignoring the pain, Claus said, "Well, if you're not going to do anything, I will!" He spun around and stormed out of the room and down the stairs. The floorboards creaked against the abuse his stomping put them under but he ignored the sound.

Boney barked as he raced after him, keeping on his heels. Claus kept running, away from the building and towards the square. He barely paid any attention to the crowd still around Fassad--they weren't worth his attention--and rushed to the train station. His feet hit the bottom step of the station stairs and he stumbled, stopping on the stairs.

...What was he doing? The train station cost so much and he couldn't afford it. Claus sighed and stepped back away from the stairs, looking towards the tunnel entrance of the tracks. Boney whined at him and Claus hummed.

"Alright." He muttered out loud. "Let's go on foot."

He rubbed his thumb along the grip of the wooden sword and headed towards the tunnel. Someone yelled at him and Boney but Claus kept going, ignoring the concerned yelling.

The inside of the tunnel was purple, much like the clay of the graveyard. It made the whole place seem darker, as Claus walked into the darkness. The Chimera that everyone knew were huddled in the caverns seemed to avoid them until they stepped out into a mini valley, a forest filled with slitherhens and ramblin` mushrooms. The latter seemed content to leave them be but the former striked out and attacked them.

Claus had no problem with striking them across their hen faces to knock them out. Bone seemed to like just sitting there, chewing on them. The redhead would let the dog have his fun because honestly Boney didn't get to go out as much in the past couple years. This was probably a welcome change of pace for him.

A few battles in, Claus could feel stronger already. It was a bit of a strange feeling, to just somehow feel stronger. Claus did like the feeling of being stronger because--he could take on ever stronger enemies as he got stronger.

He rubbed his hand son his shorts and grimaced, realizing his palms were still bleeding a bit. "Great...blood stains." If there was a hot spring nearby, he could probably get the stains out but the chances of that were slim.

Claus looked up as Boney started barking and growling. Claus grimaced at the sight of a muttshroom. Those were dangerous on a good day--and today was not a good day for Claus.

Glowering, the redhead raised his wooden sword and swung down onto the muttshroom's head. It yelped at the content and some spore popped out. Claus grimaced and covered his mouth, backing away from the muttshroom. As the spores dissipated, Boney leapt forward and bit down on their enemy's throat.

The muttshroom yelped and struggled until, finally, it got free, running away from them. It had been tamed and Claus let out a sigh of relief. He hated it when mutthshrooms showed up--he'd only had a couple confrotation with them in the past but they were always really awful. Seriously, who thought combining a dog and a mushroom was a good idea?

Boney yawned big and wide before reached over and tugged on Claus' shorts. Claus brushed him off with a huff and the two began walking again. As they stepped into another tunnel shaded in purples, Claus heard something clanking towards them. He looked up and saw--the train.

"Oh, shoooooooot!!" Claus yelped as he felt Boney's teeth dig into his shirt and pull him away from the tracks. The two of them pressed against the tunnel wall as the train rocketed past them. "We. Almost died." He muttered looking down at the brown dog.

He didn't seem nearly as bothered by the near death as Claus was. He ruffled the dog's ears with a strained smile and pushed himself to his feet. Boney whined but got up as well from where he had been flopped on Claus' legs.

They continued their trek down the tracks, Claus keeping an eye out for the train as they went along. It probably wouldn't show up for another few minutes--meaning they should be able to get a little further before the train came back through. Unless it took longer to get people onto it.

The area beyond the second tunnel was an empty mini valley; it was like a wasteland, with very little greenery in the area. He could see some trees up by the top of the cliff but what he really was interested in was the hot spring sign stationed by a ladder.

Claus hurried over to it, waving to Boney. "Come on, Boney! There's a hotspring--we can rest for a bit." And I can get the blood stains out of my shorts.

Boney barked joyfully and the duo began hiking up the ladder. Claus stopped here and there to help heft Boney up. The fact that Boney could even climb the ladder was pretty miraculous, considering he was a dog and that ladders were made with humans in mind.

(Neither of them noticed the green shirt sitting at the foot of the ladder.)

As soon as he saw the hot spring, he felt a thrill of relief. Claus hadn't even noticed until that moment how exhausted he had felt from all that fighting. He set his wooden sword to the side and slipped into the warm water, Boney yelping as the dog splashed in after him.

Claus frowned at Boney. "Be more careful." He told the dog seriously. He didn't want Boney to go under: This hot water might just send him into shock if he isn't careful.

"My! I didn't expect to see anyone else here~!" A voice piped up behind them and Claus jolted, spinning around in surprise. The voice didn't sound at all familiar and he swore he hadn't seen anyone else ahead of them--but who knew, maybe this person had been there for awhile--

He covered his eyes when he spotted the other person's bare shoulders, horrified. "Why are you--These hot springs are magic, you know!" Ocean waves, why was this happening to him??

The other chuckled softly. "Dear, it's fine~ I am wearing pants, you know." I don't want to see any naked part of any person, Claus wailed internally. "Now now, what is a kid and a dog doing all the way here, hm~?"

Claus pressed his hand harder to his face, praying to whatever deity might be listening that this person would get a shirt on. "W-we're going to the factory!" _To look for Duster and maybe Kumatora_ , he thought to himself.

"Oh my~? Going to help out your family, sweetie?" He could tell they were smiling just by the sound of their voice.

He hesitated. "Sort of? I'm--I'm looking for an old family friend." Claus frowned internally: He'd have to get into the factory so maybe he could just work part time to get in? He'd get money and find Duster--or at least the one everyone seemed to think might be Duster.

They hummed. "I see! Perhaps...Sweetie, there's something I'd like to try real quick, hm~?" They clapped their hands and sound excited and Claus--Claus really didn't know what to do.

Peering down at Boney, the dog seemed completely relaxed. Which was unfair: Why was Claus the only jumpy one? But...well, he supposed if this person did try and anything, Boney would protect him. Claus hoped. "Fine." He gave in. "Just...be quick I guess."

"Oooh~! I'll be fast as I can dear, it does hurt a bit at first!" Wait, what hurts a bit at first--?

Claus started as the person spun him in the water and started...giving him a back massage? At first it felt fine, nice even, and Claus wondered why they had wondered him of it hurting.

They hit some sort of knot near his neck and Claus felt sharp unending pain. It felt like all of his nerves were on fire and he wondered: Am I going to die here in this stupid hot spring because of a stupid back massage?

And then, as quickly as it came, the pain was gone. Claus swayed in place as a feminine voice breathed in his ear (fire, freeze, love) and he leaned back on the edge of the hot spring.

"What," He said, "Was that!?"

The person who had done...whatever they'd done, clapped their hands. "I unlocked your PSI, sweetie! If you feel like you need some help with a fight, just call on your PSI and you'll be safe~"

PSI? Claus frowned. He felt like he'd heard the term before, from someone, but he couldn't remember. Claus looked down at his hands and wondered if those words he had heard had something to do with PSI. Maybe he should try it later, just to see.

Boney whined and Claus started, looking down at the dog. Just with one look he could see that the heat from the hot spring had started to get to the dog and Claus sighed. He did want to ask mort about PSI but-- "I have to go now." He informed the person, still keeping his gaze aimed at anywhere but the other.

They chuckled. "Oh, yes, of course! Do take care of yourself, sweetie~ Perhaps the passage of fate will have us meet once more..." The sound of water sloshing reached Claus' ears and when he glanced towards the water he saw that the person had gone deeper into the hot spring so that he could no longer see them clearly.

Thank the waves.

Claus leaned down and hefted Boney up and out of the hot spring. The dog whined but began slowly heading down the ladder. How Boney managed it was about as much of a mystery as how he got up the ladder in the first place.

He followed, grabbing his wooden sword, studiously ignoring the pile of green clothes at the foot of the ladder. He nodded to himself and kicked off the last two bottom rungs to land on his feet. Calus huffed and gave the sword a couple of experimental swings. It didn't seem like it had warped at all from the heat, which was good.

Looking up, Claus began heading towards the next tunnel. Just as every indoor tunnel so far, it was shaded in purple and dark. He and Boney stepped up against a wall of the tunnel as the train rocketed back towards the factory again. Once it was gone, Claus and Boney began jogging forward along the tracks. Unlike last time, it'd probably come through again quickly, which meant they'd...have to be extra careful.

That thought made him scrunch up his nose. Claus wasn't sure how much further they had to go, honestly, but he was sure they were almost there. There was probably only one more tunnel until they got to the factory station.

Claus took a deep breath before he ran forward. Boney yelped behind him before he raced after him. They tore through the tunnel and into another mini valley. This one was cut in half by a waterfall, a bridge crossing over the river that formed at the waterfalls base. He took a deep breath and jogged forward, stopping as he spotted something weird bouncing up and down at the base of a tree.

There, a stick with a bird's head sat, still bouncing up and down from a hole.

He stared at it, because what. What the heck? What was even the point of that thing? It just kind of sat there...squawking...what did it even eat? Was it like a plant? This thing was probably worse than the muttshroom because at least that dog actually made sense.

You know what? He was going to poke it. Maybe that was dumb of him to do but he really wanted to know. Claus approached it and poked it with the sword. It screeched at him. Nobody came.

Boney barked behind him, growling at the stick-bird. It screeched again and Claus clapped a hand over one ear, grimacing. That thing was loud, though for what reason Claus didn't know.

And then a reconstructed mole dug up out of the ground and waved its drill bit arms at them threateningly.

 _Oh_ , He thought, _was it because it was calling out for help?_ Claus grimaced and pulled his hands back. "Boney, take out the stick!" He swung his wooden sword at the mole, causing it to back away after the first smack. Boney wound around them before leaping at the stick, pulling it right out of the hole it was trying to hide in.

It looked even creepier out of its hole as Boney shook it. It seemed pretty disoriented so Claus took the chance to point his fingers at the mole. Time to try that PSI, huh? "PK Freeze!" He declared.

There was a rush of cold down his arms and then frost crawled across the ground and exploded in the mole face. It screeched and crumbled, unconscious. Claus stared at it and then pointed his fingers at the stick-thing. "Give up, or you get it too!," Claus said, glaring down at the stick.

Boney gave him a look but the bird stick chirped weakly. Between being shaken by Boney and being threatened by Claus, it seemed pretty much ready to do whatever they wanted. He nodded, satisfied with that thought: It better know its place.

"Put it down." Claus told Boney as they heard the track clatter, a train making its way towards them. "The train is almost here again and we've only got this chance to cross the bridge safely after it’s gone."

The dog whined but threw the stick into the bushes, as if content to leave it to disappear. Claus nodded to himself and the two sat back near the bridge and tracks as the train rocketed past them for the third time that trek. Maybe he'd get a discount for a train trip back if he tried to part time at the factory?

Actually, he'd probably have to do part time work to try and track down this Lucky guy. He must work at the factory, right?

Claus sighed and stretched before he and Boney ran across the bridge. Once they reached the other side, the duo got off the tacks and headed into the last short tunnel. The previous two had been long and deep--but this one seemed to pass in minutes as they stepped out into a clearing of green grass and trees.

He blinked, confused. Wait, no way, were they already there? He felt a huge grin cross his face before he jogged north. It wasn't hard to see the factory, large and gray over the dying greenery. Once he walked past the walls into the factory's courtyard, he felt a heavy dread cloak over his shoulders.

Maybe this was a bad idea? Was he being too hasty, trying to find Duster?

"(Claus? What's wrong?)" Boney nudged against Claus' leg and he frowned.

"Nothing's wrong, I just--Was it too hasty for me to come here, looking for Duster just to prove Wess wrong? If it was Lucas, he'd just do it to help but I--" Claus stopped and then looked down at the dog, eyes widening. Had...had Boney just talked?

Boney tilted his head, ears flopping. "(Huh? Okay, now I know there's something wrong, Claus.)"

Claus knelt down in front of Boney. "Hey, so...how long have you been able to talk?" Because he sure as heck couldn't talk before they'd head out here. Had that hot spring done something?

The dog sniffled against Claus' leg, bumping against it. "(I've always been able to talk--You just couldn't hear me before.)" He furrowed his brow: Okay so it was Claus who was different? Ugh...

"Too much is happening all at once." Claus groaned. "Whatever, I--Let's find Duster. Find out about that thing Wess mentioned and then head home." He couldn't wait until he could sleep. Claus felt like he could sleep for a year.

Boney yipped, tail wagging excitedly behind him. "(Okay! Let's go to the factory first, he might be there!)"

Claus nodded in agreement with the dog, ruffled Boney's ears and began walking to the factory doors. They were getting closer and closer to their goal: Find Duster, maybe find Kumatora, and then find that thing to rub Wess' dumb nose in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aw claus....you hasty boy.
> 
> random headcanons of the day: if this were a game, claus would get a free extra hit (re: the music battle would let you get 16 hits+a hit with half the damage done from the initial hit). this is because claus has a weaker PSI but stronger physical ability. lucas has the stronger PSI.
> 
> claus and lucas share a bond through their PSI. it's strong enough on lucas' end that he can send thoughts and emotions to claus--or also receive them by accident.


	4. club titiboo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta`d by my gf Laura <3 (@dolfabre)

There was no sign of Duster in the factory.

Granted, there wasn't a lot of humans in the factory to begin with. Most of them were huddled above the clay mines, zapping power back into the claymen. Claus himself had led several claymen to get zapped and get back to 'work' which was...just mining again.

Claus grumbled as he rubbed his hands on his shorts. The clay had made his hands all dry and he was eager to find a place to clean off. Of course, the chances of there being another hot spring so close by to the last one were pretty low.

At least this was the last clayman he had to push to the zapping place. After this he and Boney could head off to that club place he'd heard the other human employees talking about. Maybe Duster was working there instead?

"Hey, nice job, Claus!" He jolted as Lou approached him, Bud leading the clayman to an open platform. "You finished with your hours?"

More like I finished getting all the claymen I was ordered to, Claus thought. "Yeah, I'm done," He said out loud, "I'm--heading home." Okay that was a lie. He was actually heading to that weird club thing instead, to find Duster and prove a waves darned point.

Bud rubbed his hands. "You be careful on your way home, Claus! Some cattlesnakes apparently got out." The short portly man turned to Lou and the two started talking about it. Claus turned and whistled to call Boney.

The dog leapt off the weird conveyor belt he'd been running on and rushed up to Claus' side. Boney's tongue lulled out, ears perked up with excitement. Claus smiled and ruffled the brown dog's ears once before turning back towards the entrance.

A pigmask was seated at the entrance, looking through a folder. It was probably filled with employee forms so Claus shrugged it off. He knocked on the doorframe as he approached and the pigmask looked up. "Oh! The handsome part timer is done!" Pigmask oinked. "Here, here, this is your pay for the work...oh, and your ticket for Club Titiboo!"

"Uh, thanks." Claus took the small bag of DP coins and the ticket. Wait--was it seriously called Club Titiboo? What type of name was that? He glanced down at Boney as he stuck the items in his pocket and they headed out of the factory together.

Boney made a gesture that was likely the dog version of a shrug.

Claus sighed and the two started wandering around to try and find the club. It didn't take too long as on the far north wall a large colorful, flashing sign that said 'CLUB TITIBOO' in all caps. He wrinkled his nose because yeah, it really was called that.

"(Are we going up there?)" Boney barked peering up towards the mountain that the signs pointed at. "(It's pretty far away...)"

He squinted his eyes, shielding them from the sun with his left hand. "...Yeah, I think so. Let's just go up and look around for a bit and if we don't see Duster, let's head home okay?"

Boney whined in agreement before running ahead. Claus rolled his eyes at his dog's excitement before he raced after the dog. He took care to avoid the weird flowers (did they have...pig heads?) and slowed to a stop when he reached Boney, whom was whining at a man in a tuxedo and hat.

The man gave the dog a despairing look before he looked up and spotted Claus. His expression was schooled into one of utter professionalism and said, "Hello, sir, are you heading to Club Titiboo today?"

"...Yeah, I am. Uh--Here's the ticket?" Claus shuffled through his pocket until he got to the ticket. He handed it over and the man took it, a flash of relief crossing his face. Boney barked happily up at the man as he gestured for them to go into the weird...train car thing.

Claus glanced back at the man as the doors closed behind him and Boney. "That guy was...weird," He said to Boney.

Boney barked. "(I think he was afraid me, maybe?? But who could be afraid of dogs? We're cute.)" Claus grinned slightly at the dog's words before jerking as the whole train car-thing started to move upwards. He shuddered; that was a strange feeling, like his stomach had swooped.

He leaned against the wall of the train car as it continued up: The motion made his stomach queasy and he kind of wished there was another way up. Though he was kind of thankful now that he hadn't taken the train. If this was his reaction to the movement, he really didn't want to experience it twice.

When the train car slowed to a stop at the other station and the doors slid open, Claus flopped on the ground. He laid there for a bit with Boney at his side until his stomach settled and sat up.

"That sucked." Claus told the dog. Boney barked his agreement: He didn't much like the ride up either.

Claus stood all the way up and patted the dirt of his shorts. They were...pretty bad, actually. Maybe they were lucky and there would be a hot spring in the club? Not likely, considering they'd have to build around it, but it would still be nice to find.

He approached the front doors of the colorful club building. Two guards stood by the doors, one completely bald and the other with a thick neckbeard. Claus hesitated before tilting his chin up and kept walking.

The bearded guard stepped forward first, raising a hand. "Look--Look, we know there's no way you could've gotten up here without a ticket, but you're. Clearly under aged, kid. And that? That is a dog. You shouldn't be up here."

Resisting his urge to glare, Claus puffed out a breath. "We're not going to do anything--we just want to use the bathrooms." He fibbed. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"Eeeh..." The bearded guard frowned at him. Claus could feel sweat bead on the back of his neck, as he stifled his worry that he might call him on his lie. He wasn't sure what he would said if he did.

The bald guard cleared his throat. "Look, we shouldn't be letting you in even for that. Rules are rules."

Claus gritted his teeth. How was he supposed to get in and look for Duster if they wouldn't even let him in the door? He looked up at the door and stared. Staring back out, her forehead pressed against the glass, was a woman with bright pink hair.

When their eyes met, she grinned at him, pulled away, and then opened the doors. The two guards jumped, startled by the action and turned around to the doors. "Sorry, sorry!" She chirped with a very fake girly voice. "I was just looking for Trooper Hans' kid and dog--He said they'd be by soon, for the DCMC show."

"Violet...you can't be talking about these two, can you?" The bald guard hedged.

The girl, Violet, smiled brightly at them. "Of course! I'd recognize that face anywhere--Hello, Lars. You and Bravery can come on in, you've got a pass in." She motioned for them to come in.

The bearded guard stepped forward, frowned so hard Claus thought he could see his forehead frowning too. "Violet, you sure? I mean, why didn't Trooper Hans tell us?"

"Well, how else is an under aged kid going to get a ticket to the club?" Violet tilted her head at the bald guard, her ponytail bouncing as she did so. "The pigmasks at the factory aren’t supposed to give kids tickets to the club, you know?" _Whoops_ , Claus thought, _looks like that pigmask might get in trouble..._

The two guards looked at each other again before the bearded guard grumbled. "Alright, fine. Get going, kid." They backed away and Violet motioned to Claus to follow her. As soon as the door closed behind them, she led them forward, a hand against the small of Claus' back.

"Claus." She whispered into her ear, having leaned over a bit to talk. "It's me, Kumatora. Remember, from three years ago? We need to disguise your dog there and I've got something you can use--Head to the bathrooms on the left, okay?" Before he could respond, 'Violet' cheerfully walked ahead of him and disappeared through the right door.

Boney whimpered. "(Do you know her, Claus?)"

He bit his lip. If that was really Kumatora...then she had found Duster. That meant Duster had to be here, right? "...Sort of. Come on, Boney." He led the dog into the left most room and found the bathroom.  Just before he went into it, a frog bounced out. It was croaking some sort of song about saving and Claus watched it go with a baffled expression.

Claus shook his head and ruffled Boney's ears again before opening the bathroom door. Once inside, he locked the door behind them and sat down. "I have no idea what she wants, but I hope it’s good." Claus looked down at his wooden sword: He was kinda surprised they were okay with him bringing it in.

"(I don't think she'd hurt us. And if she's here, than Duster must be too! Right? You said that earlier...)" Boney whined and dropped his head onto Claus' lap.

Sighing--he was doing that a lot today, huh--Claus rested hand against the dog's head. "Yeah, I did, didn't I? When we went into the factory..." He paused. "Hey, Boney? Do you think we can find Duster?" Yeah, this had started as a way to sort of show up Wess--that Claus could do what he didn't even want to try--but now...

That was kind of silly though, wasn't it? A 13 year old boy trying to show up some old man in his like 60s? Maybe even rude. Claus didn't really know: No one had ever said as much but...

It made him think of Alec, and how his grandfather used to tease him and Lucas when they were younger. How, when Claus asked if he ever knew Flint's parents, Alec would get this far away look in his eyes, like he was trying to remember something.

(His answer was always an 'it was a long time ago,' incidentally.)

Boney whined again and Claus looked down with a grimacing smile. He tried to comfort the dog by stroking his fur on his head and paused as he heard someone knocking on the door. "Lars!" A voice came through. "I've got what you asked for!"

"She's back." Claus muttered to Boney and stood up, unlocking the door. He squinted through the crack of the door and 'Violet' held out a plastic bag. Giving it a quick look, Claus looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

'Violet' sighed. "Look, you need to hide your dog's look--and then you can come out and sit down for the concert hall. Afterwards, we can catch up, okay?" She glanced over her shoulder fretfully.

Claus bit the inside of his cheek before he snagged the plastic bag. "Fine," He said to her before he snapped the door closed and locked it again. Inside the bag were two shirts: A dark green short sleeve shirt with a logo on the front and there was a black long sleeve shirt.

Without thinking, he set the black shirt aside and took off his striped shirt. Thankfully, the dark shirt fit perfectly and Claus put the striped shirt over it. He gestured to Boney and helped him get the green shirt on.

The only thing in the bag was a weird spinning hat and Claus set it on Boney's head. Claus stared at the 'disguise' and snorted. Who would actually fall for this? You could clearly see Boney's ears!

Shaking his head, Claus unlocked the door and the two of them walked out of the bathroom. Boney was once more showing off his weird abilities as he stood on his back paws, like a human. If he wasn't so obviously a dog, he could probably have passed on a human.

...No one gave Boney a second look when they returned to the colorful lobby. Claus deadpanned, baffled by the response, or lack thereof. Did they--really not see Boney as a dog? As he watched the crowd, 'Violet' jogged forward and stopped by them.

"Just smile, okay?" She hissed before continuing in a louder voice. "Okay, sweetie! Let's head to the concert hall, hm~?" 'Violet' pushed him along and headed towards the hall. As soon as he and Boney were inside the concert hall, 'Violet' said, "I'll get you your burger and shakes, okay, Lars? Just sit tight~"

Claus just...stared at her as she left. That attitude was nothing like the Kumatora he had met three years ago. Then again, it might be because she was dressed up--she seemed to be acting out a part. But why would she need to even do that? Were the pigmasks that concerned about what had happened all those years ago?

Boney whimpered. "(Claus, can we sit down? This is really uncomfortable, standing like this.)"

Wincing, Claus nodded and led his dog to the nearest table. It didn't seem to be a popular space as the rest of the crowd were seated closer to the front of the colorful, neon purple concert hall, nearest to the stage. The people in the hall were chanting 'encore!!' and Claus wondered what they wanted an encore of. A song or something?

"(Claus, are we going to look for Duster?)" Boney barked softly. The dog was seated almost uncomfortably in the chair, but he seemed to be more comfortable there than standing like a human being.

Claus shrugged weakly. He kind of did want to go out and look for Duster too, but he did also want that burger 'Violet' had mentioned. Actually, he was just hungry in general. He hadn't eaten since chowing down on a nutbread a few hours earlier. "Let's eat first," He said.

Boney sighed sorrowfully and leaned over the table. At least he looked happy like that, for all that he seemed disappointed that he--maybe?--wasn't getting food.

"Hey, got your food!" 'Violet' bounced around them and laid out the tray she was carrying. There was a bowl and a plate, plus two glasses of water. In the bowl was some dry dog food mixed with wet dog food--a weird combination, but whatever. Claus was more interested in the burger on the plate.

She pressed a finger to her lips. "I got your dog something to eat--DCMC is going to be coming on soon for their encore, so when they're done come meet me by the employee door--it'll be on your left when you leave the hall." 'Violet' leaned back, cheerfully said something about enjoying the food, and then left them alone.

Claus looked down at Boney, who was already digging into the dog food combo she had brought. He looked down at the burger, wondered if it was a good idea, and then decided he was too hungry to really care.

Deciding to dig into his own food, Claus stifled a sigh of relief. He hadn't realized just how hungry he was until now: Nutbread could soothe hunger but it couldn't get rid of it all the way. Claus knew that his dad would probably be disappointed that he'd already eaten when he got home, but...Well. Flint wasn't the best cook, even with three years of practice.

It was they both finished their food and Claus was pouring one of the glasses' contents into Boney's bowl that DCMC finally came back onto the stage. Claus looked over all five of them, wondering what their instruments were called. He had never seen anything of their like before--though he hadn't really seen anything besides pianos before, honestly.

He drank some water as he kept looking over their uniforms before he spotted the guy with the weird afro. He looked...kind of familiar, but Claus couldn't place why.

As he tried to figure out why this random guy seemed familiar, a hand dropped down on his shoulder. Claus jolted and looked behind him to see Thomas, whom seemed surprised to see him. "What're you doing up here, Claus?" He asked. "I mean--I guess if you worked you've got a right to this place, but you're kindaaa under aged?"

"...I got invited to see DCMC..." _Lie until you make it_ , he thought to himself.

Claus winced as Thomas laughed brightly and started patting his shoulder sharply. "Well, I guess I can forgive you for wanting to see DCMC--Oh, hey, Violet! Can you get this one and his...friend here a couple of fizzy sodas?" He jolted and looked at 'Violet' as she approached them, carrying a tray close to her chest.

She smiled, brightly, and said, "Okay~! I'll be right back with that--You'll be paying~?" Thomas nodded and 'Violet' gave him a quick air kiss before she turned and left the hall.

He winced a bit because that air kiss looked incredibly uncomfortable. If Violet really was Kumatora--and Claus really had no reason to believe she wasn't--then she had to uncomfortable and frustrated by all this. She never really come off as a very feminine girl, from their one conversation.

Thomas gave him another sharp back pat before heading ahead to a table further ahead of their own. Claus sighed into his now empty water glass. "I'm glad he's gone--but he's totally telling Dad he saw us." He cringed and Boney let out a soft whine of dread.

Flint would not be happy.

Claus sighed and leaned on his hands. He was probably going to be grounded when Flint found out--which wouldn't be for a couple of days at worst or a week at best. At least he'll hopefully get Duster back to Tazmily before then. Maybe his dad will excuse him doing this in that case?

...That was way too optimistic. He sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and leaned back just as 'Violet' placed her tray on the table. "Here's your order~!" She paused and lowered her voice again. "Don't forget, door on left, employee door. Meet me there." Then she perked up again, like her mood had done a complete 180 and left him in the hall again.

"(She's. Kind of freaking me out...)" Boney whined, sniffing curiously at the glasses.

He reached over and snagged them. "Same here, Boney. And don't drink that--it's probably bad for dogs."

"(Probably?)"

Claus shrugged. "Have you ever heard of a dog drinking soda before?" He asked.

Boney seemed to contemplate this as DCMC finished their song. The blond man in the front, holding the metallic instrument he had been blowing into, raised a hand and thanked everyone for coming. Claus watched the other band members start gathering their equipment and he stood up. "Song's done, let's go."

A short struggle to get Boney standing up later, and they were out of the hall. The lobby wasn't too busy, compared to earlier. That meant people must've left either during the song or before the encore had even begun. Claus wondered if that was weird or not--he had a feeling it might be but...well, he wasn't exactly an expert.

It wasn't hard to see the employee door--if only because 'Violet' was sticking her head out and waving at them. Claus raised his eyebrows at her before hurrying after her, his wooden sword dragging behind him. As soon as they passed into the room, 'Violet' gave a sigh of relief. "Okay, come on, kid. I've got a secret passage to my room--I'm guessing you're here about Duster?"

"How did you know?" Claus asked, baffled.

She grinned at him, all teeth and sharp. It was very different from the smiles she had been giving earlier. Those were full of sugar and naivety--but this one? It was the exact opposite.

Kumatora was kind of scary, Claus decided.

Giving him a thumbs up, Kumatora knelt down and pulled a panel up from the ground. "Why else would you be here?" She shot back before pointing down into the hole under the panel. "C`mon, let's catch up in my room. I don't want the guards to catch wind of you two being here."

"More like you don't want them finding out you lied." Claus shot back. Kumatora smirked at him before sliding down the ladder and into the underground passage. Boney slid in after her and Claus was last, carefully shutting the panel behind them.

Claus made a face as his feet splashed in the water of the tunnel. Wet socks were some of he worst things he could imagine and he wiggled his toes. At least it was only the ankle part of his socks were wet. Claus looked up at where Boney and Kumatora waited for him.

He leaned down and patted the dog on the head. "So where now?" Claus asked Kumatora.

She pointed northwards down the tunnel. "That`a way. I'm gonna head ahead and take a shower--catch up, okay?" Kumatora jogged ahead, dodging around the slugs that were clinging to the damp walls.

Boney barked excitedly and head-butted a few out of the way. Claus rolled his eyes and knocked a few of the slugs out of their way down. It didn't take too long to get through: The slugs weren't as tough as the muttshrooms and other chimera they'd ecountered on the road to the factory.

Claus grimaced, his tongue between his teeth as he looked down at the slugs they knocked away. They seemed content to run off once they knocked them out of the way, though that didn't stop Boney from head-butting some of them a second time.

"Hey, stop that, Boney." Claus gently booped the dog's snoot. Boney whined but stopped bothering the slugs that knocked out of the way.

At the end of the tunnel, they saw another ladder, with light filtering down from above. Claus and Boney climbed up into a pink tinted room, with white stripes all over the walls. It...doesn't seem like Kumatora's type of place, but then she's been pretending to be something she wasn't for the past couple years it seemed. This was just another part of that.

He looked up at the door where he could hear water running. He'd never used a shower himself: His house wasn't built for plumbing like that and they'd never planned for it anyway. Well, unless the next thunder bolt set the house on fire but Claus really hoped it didn't.

Claus' home was fine the way it was.

Boney whined and Claus glanced at him, thought about it, and then started taking the clothes off of the dog. "(Thanks!)" Boney yelped as Claus folded up the green shirt and placed it on the floor by what he thought wee dirty clothes. "(It was starting to get really heavy and hot...)"

"Of course it was," Claus said scoldingly, "You were basically wearing two layers, with your fur and all."

He looked up, startled when he realized the shower was off. When it had been turned off, he didn't know, but Kumatora walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her hair to keep it from dripping all over her clothes. "Bathrooms free--You two should probably clean up before we talk, okay?," She said.

Claus stared at her before nodding with a sigh. He didn't see any reason to argue with her on this so while she...did whatever, Claus pulled Boney along into the bathroom. "Oh, there's a hot spring in there too!" She called after them, amused by...something.

The door snapped shut behind them and he just stared at the hot spring in the bathroom. "....A magic hot spring? Here?" Claus muttered, baffled.

* * *

The time in the hot spring washed off the grime and stains from his clothes. It also eased Claus' aches and pains, most of which he hadn't noticed until they were gone. What a gift, he thought sarcastically to himself.

He refused to use that weird shower--not because it wasn't good at what it was meant for. More because...it kind of freaked Claus out. Something about the hot water hitting his skin made him want to run in the opposite direction. The obvious solution would be to use cold water but--that somehow freaked him out too. Hot springs were always going to be his first choice.

At least Boney seemed just as relaxed as Claus was now, after a few minutes in the hot spring.

It was also nice to not be covered in slug slime, grime, and a little bit of blood. Speaking of--It was a good thing no one noticed the blood stains on his shorts, faint or not. If they had it would've been a pretty hard to explain that.

Sure he could just explain that it was just his blood, but he knew that some people out there tended to assume the worst. Maybe it was weird that he wanted people to not have a bad impression of him but that was how he felt. It could be that was wrong, but Claus couldn't make himself feel differently about it.

Eventually, though, Claus had to acknowledge that he had to leave the hot spring at some point. Getting out of the hot water, Claus patted his clothes as if to dry them from being wet--even though they had never gotten wet in the first place.

"Okay, let's get back to Kumatora," He said to Boney.

The dog barked back at him. "(Do you think she'll know what's up with Duster?)"

Claus tilted his head at Boney as he crept out of the hot spring on Claus' heels. "What do you mean?" He asked, a little confused by Boney's question.

He blinked up at Claus. "(Well--that guy with the big hair; that was Duster wasn't it?)" Claus opened his mouth and then shut it--that man had seemed familiar but it had never ocurred to him that it would be Duster.

"...Maybe? Let's just go talk to Kumatora, okay?" Claus turned away and walked over to the door, peeking out to make sure nothing was...weird in the other room. All he saw was Kumatora putting her hair up in an exaggerated hair style and way too many accessories.

She looked up and grinned. "Chose the hot spring huh? Well, either way we need to talk this stuff out." Kumatora leaned back on her bed. "Alright, first off--if you two are here about Duster, Duster has amnesia right now."

Claus cringed. "Wait, what? How did he get amnesia?" Amnesia was hard to get wasn't it? Someone couldn't just wake up with amnesia--at least, as far as Claus aware, that couldn't happen.

"Don't know, I think he got hurt after we got swept downstream. Hit his head or something--either way, he was carting something pretty important we saved from the castle before the pigmasks got it." Kumatora sighed and crossed her arms in front of her. "I've been trying to get him to remember but...no dice."

He frowned as Boney curled up at the woman's feet. "What, do you think I can help?" Claus crossed his arms. He wasn't sure how much help he would be in such a situation. It's not like he could wave his hand and heal people or something.

Kumatora shrugged. "Maybe? Having someone new come in might help out. But that's my side of things--how about for you? What's been going on in Tazmily?"

Claus groaned. "Besides Fassad trying to make a cult around the Happy Boxes? Well, okay, some new people have moved in, my dad's depressed but trying to hide it, all the old people were put in this crappy building that's creaky and leaking, and everything kind of sucks." He took a deep breath and crossed his arms, frustrated.

There was nothing he could do to change at least have of those things--he couldn't stop Fassad. He can't fix the creaky Elder's Paradise, and he can't make his father smile again. Not truly smile, like he used to when their family was whole.

"Basically everything kind of sucks for everyone. Got it." Kumatora took a deep breath as Claus looked up at her. "There might not be anything we can do about that stuff right now--But we can deal with the Duster situation. He goes by Lucky right now, remember that."

She stood up and Claus frowned at her. "What're you doing?" He asked.

Kumatora raised an eyebrow at him. "Gathering DCMC so I can explain? Look, there's a way through the attic to Lucky's room--I'll go down here and get everyone in there and you can get to the room through the attic." As she spoke, Kumatora went over to one of the walls and flipped a section, revealing a ladder attached to the wall.

Claus hesitated before he said, "Why can't we just follow you?"

"For the same reason you couldn't just go through the employee doors: The guards will grab you and toss you out. See you soon." Kumatora--'Violet' now--turned away and headed out of the room.

He made a face and then helped Boney up into the attic. Claus snagged his wooden sword and headed up the ladder after Boney, into the darkness of the attic.

The first thing Claus noticed was that it smelled like dust. That made sense, considering the layers of dust Claus could see coating the attic. It wasn't as dark as he thought it would be, though, which meant he wouldn't be stumbling in the dark here.

Another thing he noticed was just how many pipes were exposed in the attic and how easy it looked to get from above on room to another. Claus wondered if Kumatora herself had made those entrances--and then pushed the thought away. Now wasn't the time for what ifs.

Boney was waiting for him next to a mouse, whom was shuffling through a box of items. As he approached, the mouse looked up and squeaked at him. "(The dog says you can understand us?)"

Claus stared for a moment, startled. He thought it was only Boney but-- "I guess so." He told the mouse.

It seemed to light up at his response. "(Great! I can do business with someone other than that surly pink one--Okay, so I've got items to sell and you've got DP. Let's do a trade, okay?)" The mouse grinned at him, somehow. How a mouse could grin he had no idea.

(Part of him wondered if this hadn't become an elaborate dream at some point.)

"....Uh, what do you have?" He asked.

The mouse bounced in place before pulling a wooden sword out of the box, somehow. It was longer than the box was tall or wide so how it managed to be in there Claus had no idea. "(Well, I see you're a wooden sword type of guy,)" The mouse said, "(So how about this Good Bokken? It'll last longer than that wooden sword.)"

Claus looked down at the wooden sword. Despite its newness, the sword was already starting to splinter from the abuse he put it through over the past day. It was a bit shocking to see how bad condition it was but--the mouse had a point. "Trade me? Some DP and whatever this wooden sword is worth for it?" Claus suggested.

It seemed to think this over before it decided. "(75 DP for the sword! And the Good Bokken is woth 200 DP so...125 DP, please.)" The mouse held out its paw, wiggling its tiny fingers for the DP.

He eyeballed it before pulling out the bag from the part time job. Inside was 200 DP and he exchanged the sword and the 125 DP for the Good Bokken. Claus swung it a couple of times experimentally before nodding: Yeah, this worked pretty well.

"Do you have anything for dogs?" Claus asked. He did have 75 DP left, after all.

The mouse contemplated this for a moment before shifting through the box. After a few minutes, it popped back out and gave Claus a sad look. "(Sorry, kid, I got nothing.)"

Claus sighed. "That's fine. I thought I'd check. See you?" He waved a goodbye and began walking away towards one of the doorways.

"(Thanks for buying!! Oh, and if you see my family, give `em a hello from me!)" The mouse called back as Claus and Boney left the room fully. A family, huh? Claus wondered what a mouse family was like compared to a human one.

They headed deeper into the attic. Arachnid!!!!s and Elder Battys skittered into their way at first, dangerous with venom and claws. Claus and Boney were both very careful not to be bitten by any of the Arachnid!!!!s. Of course, when they passed into the first room filled with boxes, they met a greedier mouse.

It kept trying to steal stuff from them and if it wasn't for Boney keeping a sharp eye on it, it probably would've stolen a lot. Which Claus was thankful for--when they knocked it out, Claus didn't want to check it for anything it might've stolen otherwise.

Claus knew when they reached the DCMC's rooms. Mostly because it was obvious with the Beaten Drums and the Gently Weeping Guitars--where else would they gather? He just wished that they wouldn't try electrocuting them so often.

It was kind of a pain, to dodge lightning bolts.

They did find the mouse family the mouse merchant had mentioned, gathered around a kotatsu. They seemed comfortable there and Claus and Boney took a break there with them, mentioning having met their kid. They talked shortly about the difficulties of living in an attic before Claus and Boney gave them their farewells.

Boney pushed Claus along to another room, where they found a hole to the room below. Here was the thing; there was no way they could get to the hole right now. In their way was a...living instrument. 'Jealous Bass' whispered a voice in his ear. The same voice that had told him freeze, fire, love hours earlier.

The jealous bass began ranting about how Lucky had taken his place and so on and all Claus could think was: _You are literally an instrument, someone would need to play you._ He swung his good bokken across the bass' broke strings. Boney leapt around the good bokken and kicked off of the bass, doing a flip through the air.

Claus couldn't help but grin as he felt the bass' wood crack beneath his strikes. It let out a silent wail as he jabbed the bokken into the hole he made and twisted. Boney rammed it and it started splintering beneath their blows.

Below, he could hear some confused and curious voices echo up to them. Probably DCMC, confused as to why it sounded like a battle was being waged above their heads. Which: It was, but it’s not like they knew that for sure.

As he thought that, Claus felt something crack again beneath his strikes. For a moment, he worried it had been his good bokken that had broken but instead it had been the jealous bass, succumbing to his blows. Boney gave a low howl at having defeated the...living instrument.

That still wigged him out a bit.

Claus glanced down the hole and then jumped down without hesitation. He cringed as his knees jerked under the impact and he fell on his behind. Boney landed neatly besides him and chuffed, bumping his snout against Claus' arm.

"Stop that." He scolded the dog, pushing his snout away. He looked up and spotted the five people he'd seen on the stage earlier and 'Violet.' Only the latter of the group didn't seem surprised by their presence. "...hi?" Claus offered weakly.

'Violet' snickered, a hand over her mouth. "T-this is Claus--the one I was telling you guys about before."

The blond man with a larger than average head raised an eyebrow. "Okay, that's, great I guess--but why did he come in from the ceiling?" The other blond in the room muttered an agreement as the other three men glanced at each other.

"Guard wouldn't let him through normally, so we relied on the attic passages is all." 'Violet' shrugged. "But seriously, we do need Dus--er, Lucky's help to find that thing. He's the only one who knows where it's supposed to be." What was the thing Kumatora wanted to find anyway? She had never really told him and Boney.

The blond man sighed again. "Right...Look, I'm hesitant to let him go. He's the best bass we've ever had and we won't be the same if he left us." The others nodded in agreement and 'Lucky'--who, now that Claus had a good look at his face, did look a lot like Duster--seemed to blush at the praise.

Claus raised a hand. "Okay, uh, look? We do need Lucky's help to find this thing--it's really important. Like end of the world important--but besides that can I know your names? I literally have no idea who any of you are."

"You don't know DCMC?" The other blond man who had agreed with the apparent band leader asked. He seemed surprised and Claus just...looked at him. Why was it such a surprise he didn't know?

'Violet' pressed a hand to her mouth again before she spoke up. "Claus, this is OJ, Magic, Baccio, and Shimmy." She gestured to each man as she spoke; The blond 'leader' was OJ, the other blond was Baccio, the man with dark dreadlocks was Shimmy, and Magic was the brunet man with a mohawk. "You already know Lucky."

Lucky seemed to give him an intense look, as if trying to figure out who he was. Claus wondered if he recognized him at all but decided not to ask. OJ sighed and crossed his arms. "Tonda gossa...Alright, I think we should leave this to destiny." Wha--destiny? Claus frowned up at him.

The rest of the band straightened. "Stone-Sheet-Clippers?," Magic said.

OJ nodded seriously and turned to look down at Claus. "You. Beat us all in stone-sheet-clippers and then we'll support Lucky in leaving."

"OJ..." Lucky murmured. "Are you sure? I'm not sure if I'm this Duster, after all." Oj nodded again at him and Lucky sighed, bowing to his decision.

Claus made a face and looked at 'Violet.' She shrugged at him but bowed her head towards the others. It was obvious that she wasn't going to argue for or against OJ's suggestion.

Well, time to figure this out.

He decided to leave OJ for last, focusing on Magic instead. The man looked down at him and grinned. "Hey, kid! You know, I always lose to Shimmy." He waved a hand. "Ready to go?"

"Uh, not right now." What does Shimmy use? Claus wondered why they seemed to be helping but he supposed just because Magic said something didn't mean that Shimmy would.

Shimmy beamed at him with a cheery grin as Claus approached him next. "Tonda Gossa! You're Claus, hm? Well...Magic and Baccio always loses to stone. Ready to go?" Wait, to stone? Claus narrowed his eyes, wondering if he should trust it.

Eventually he decided he'd trust them for now. "Alright, let's go." If this one was right then the other must be right too then. Shimmy gave him a thumbs up and the two of them started the game. "1, 2, 3; Stone-Sheet-Clippers!" They chanted together.

Claus threw sheet. Shimmy threw stone.

He laughed outright. "Guess I lost! Good luck with the others, kiddo." He backed away, as if to show he had lost.

Turning away from Shimmy, Claus approached Baccio. The blond man quirked a smile. "Tonda Gossa. Lucky and OJ throw the same thing as Magic." Baccio rubbed the back of his neck. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go!" They started chanting, one of their hands smacking against the palm of their other hands. Claus threw out a clippers and Baccio a sheet. Baccio gasped sorrowfully and brought a hand to his forehead, muttering about how he lost.

Claus quirked a smile before turning to Magic. He just smiled at Claus and didn't bother repeating what he had said earlier, instead raising a hand to greet him. "Tonda Gossa! Let's go!"

Magic threw out a sheet and Claus countered with a clippers. He grinned: 3 out of 5 wasn't so bad, so far. Claus knew he shouldn't be getting overconfident but...Well, it was always a little hard not to when you were on a winning streak.

"Okay, Lucky!" Claus turned around and approached him. "It’s you and me now. Have anything to say?"

Lucky seemed embarrassed. "Ah--OJ said Baccio usually loses to him and me." Baccio, who threw sheet. Okay, that worked.

Claus smiled brightly, riding a high of a win streak. "Okay. Let's go?" At Lucky's nod, Claus began thumping his hand against his other hand. "1, 2, 3--Stone-Sheet-Clippers!"

He threw a sheet. Lucky threw stone.

Without thinking, he leaned back and tossed his arms into the air. "I know I only need one loss to lose here, but I'm winning right now and I feel great!" 'Violet' laughed quietly at him, her hand pressed to her mouth.

"Don't get too overconfident." Lucky warned him but stepped back. Claus just grinned at him and turned around to OJ.

OJ chuckled at Claus' eager bounce. "Tonda Gossa, kid. You ready to go?" At Claus' nod, he leaned forward and murmured in a hushed tone. "Throw stone--I'm going to throw clippers."

Claus stared at him. It was one thing to give him hints and another to tell him what he was supposed to do. For a moment, he wondered if he was trying to trick him but Claus decided to throw his caution to the wind for once. He nodded. "1, 2, 3--Stone-Sheet-Clippers!" He threw out his hand, threw out stone.

The band leader threw out a clippers.

He gazed at OJ's hands as if he had never seen hands before. Claus...really didn't get it. They seemed so insistent in keep Lucky there and yet they let him win so easily? Claus didn't understand.

OJ turned from Claus and to Lucky. "Well, it seems destiny has made its decision." The two men exchanged knowing looks, as if they were both aware that it had been a thrown set of matches. Claus...really didn't get adults.

'Violet' cleared her throat. "If that's the result! I'm gonna go clear the way so Claus and Boney don't have to clamber through the attic again: Meet me in the lobby, okay~?" As she left the room she pulled her hair out of the elaborate hair style, letting it down into the style Claus remembered from three years ago.

Claus frowned at his hands and then looked up at Lucky--no, Duster now--as he put his hand on his shoulder. "Let's go catch up with her, okay, Claus?," Duster said gently.

"...Yeah, yeah. Come on, Boney! Let's go too!" Claus grabbed his good bokken from the only bed in the room and left, Boney and Duster on his heels.

Two guards were unconscious in the hallway. The trio stepped over the slumped forms, careful not to jostle them awake. They walked until they found themselves in the same room where the tunnel to Kumatora's room was. The panel was of course closed, just as Claus had left it before.

Kumatora stood out in the lobby, patting her purple-blue hoodie dress. When the trio stepped into the lobby, she looked up at them with a grin. "Hey, you three! Duster, can you lead us to wherever you put the egg now?"

Duster hesitated. "There was an egg that I hid before I ran into the rest of the DCMC. Do you think...that might've been it?" He wondered.

"Must've been--unless you have any other egg things on you?" Kumatora raised her eyebrows at him.

He shook his head. "That was the only thing I had with me at the time. So I guess that's the only thing it could be, right?"

Kumatora nodded slowly and Claus waved a hand to get their attention. "Are you guys going to explain why that egg is so important?" Claus asked, voice dry. Because they kept talking about some egg and he didn't get what was so great about it why it was important.

"Er--Well, it's--" Kumatora was cut off mid explanation as someone started playing music. Duster spin around, his eyes wide at the sound of the song. She tilted her head and said, "...I'll explain when we head after it. Let's give Duster some time alone.

Before Claus could protest, she dragged him out of the lobby and they stood together at the front doors. Boney flopped in the dust at their feet and they stood, waiting until they heard the sound of music slowly fade away.

Duster stepped out, his hair suddenly thin on his head. The big puffy hair he had before was nowhere to be seen and he smiled sadly at them. "A parting song," He said, "For a journey. Are you two ready to go?"

Boney whined at their feet and Duster apologized to the dog. Claus smiled slightly and turned his gaze towards the sun.

The setting sun.

Wait...Claus went still his eyes going wide. "I forgot." He muttered out loud, horrified and dragging the others' attention to him. "The picnic at the grave...!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the lateness of this chapter!!! I just got a new job and training is beating me up...plus, i'm still trying to find a place that's nearer to my house so i don't have to travel 2+ hours just to get to work....


	5. that's not me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta`d by my GF Luara!! (@dolfabre)

"So basically that egg is super important because it could bring about the end of the world?" Claus summarized. "That's...kind of crazy? Like, if it can end the world, why is it the shape of an egg?"

Kumatora shrugged as she poked at the fire, making sure it was out. "Heck if I know. If I could answer that question, I probably wouldn't be wondering about it myself." She glanced at Duster, who was making small plates of food. Where he stored all that stuff, Claus had no idea.

Claus sighed and accepted the plate that Duster eventually offered. It was some scrambled eggs and greens mixed into it. He sighed: It would've been nice if it was an omelet instead. Claus would accept this, though, because he was pretty hungry.

"So, about where we need to go..." Duster spoke up. "I hid the egg in a clay statue in Murasaki Forest. I had to pass through some tunnels to get there--I remember where the entrance hole into the tunnels was."

She shrugged as she quickly ate her food. Kumatora coughed as she ate too much too quickly. She raised a finger as the others moved to help her. "I-I'm fine." Kumatora coughed again as she swallowed whatever was choking her. "A-anyway, when are we going to head out?"

Duster tilted his head, looked down at his food, and then looked over at Claus. "I suppose we can leave whenever we're all ready to go." He turned around and returned to packing the supplies away to...somewhere.

Claus had found another thing to be weirded out by. He had a feeling before this was over, he'd have a very long list of weird things.

Kumatora stuck her tongue out as she put her dish down with Claus' empty one. "Well, I'm ready. Claus?" She tilted her head at him with a bright grin.

He shrugged at her, glanced down at the plates that vanished to where the rest of the supplies were, and patted Boney on the head. "I guess I'm ready. Though I kinda wish I could head home..." _Dad is probably worried_ , he thought to himself.

"(Why can't we go? It'll be really quick!)" Boney whined from under Claus' pets.

She sighed glancing at the three of them; only Duster seemed confused. "Because the pigmasks will be looking for us there. They'll assume that's where we'll go--it is the nearest town. That's why none of us can go back yet, okay?" She tilted her head, her gaze flicking from face to face.

Ugh, why did she have to make sense? Claus crossed his arms, unhappy but accepting of this. If he did go back home, Flint could get hurt or worse killed while the pigmasks came after him.

Claus ran his hands done his face. "Okay, but can I at least send a message to my dad somehow? I don't...want him being worried for me." And not run off, trying to find him somewhere where he wasn't. If they hadn’t found definite proof Lucas was dead…Claus was sure he would’ve done that, to find Lucas.

He ignored the way his stomach rolled uneasily at the thought.

"I think save frogs can take messages, right, Vio--Kumatora?" Duster looked at her, expression a strange combination of serious and pleading.

Kumatora groaned. "Yeah, they can. Let me go find one--Duster do you've got stuff for him to write a letter to his dad?" Duster nodded and she gave them a thumbs up before heading away from their temporary camp. The oldest member of their group got to work on finding the writing supplies.

He just watched him work as Boney laid his head on Claus' lap. Taking a breath, he laid his hands the dog's head and started ruffling Boney's ears. The dog made a soft whimper of joy at the ear ruffling and curled up on him better.

Finally, Duster handed him a paper, a book, and a pen. "To write on," Duster said, patting the book with one hand. When he pulled back, Duster turned to a strange red snake and started helping it clean its scales. Claus wondered what exactly what it was.

Claus got to work writing a note. It was a short little thing, just to reassure Flint that Claus wasn't dead or kidnapped or worse. He'd never been one to write long letters, anyway.

It was lucky that just as he finished, Kumatora roared back into the camp. "Hey!" She held up a green...frog-thing in her hands with a wide grin. Kumatora said in a sing song voice, "I found a save frog!"

"I've finished my letter." Claus replied. "So...how do we do this?"

The save frog ribbited. "(Lady Kumatora said you needed a message sent--Who do you need it sent to?)" It struggled in Kumatora's hands, as if eager to take the letter from Claus right then and there.

Kumatora held out the save frog and let it go. It bounced right out of her hands and bounced along to Claus' side. It looked up and made a gesture with its webbed hand, a darker green than the rest of its body.

Claus eyed it before folding up his note and holding it out to the save frog. Delighted, the save frog took the note and bounced away before pausing at the edge of the camp. "(Where do you want this to go?)" It asked curiously.

"...Flint, of Tazmily." Claus nodded at the save frog. The save frog...smiled, somehow, and then continued to bounce away.

He turned around as Kumatora cleared her throat. "So, are we ready to go?" She asked, tilting her head to him as she adjusted her gloves. 

Duster nodded. "We're all ready, I think?" He looked at Claus (And Boney, in extension) who nodded. Duster looked back at Kumatora and said, "Yeah, we're ready."

She gave him a thumbs up and said, "Well, lead the way to that tunnel entrance hole. You are the only one who know where it is." Duster seemed hesitant to take the lead, but after a little more pressing from them, he gave in and led them forward.

They'd actually spent the night in Murasaki Forest, in all honesty. But it was so close to one of the caverns that led into the forest that none of them had really considered themselves to be properly into the forest itself.

Claus kind of wished they had backtracked to take a dip in the magic hot spring back in the caverns behind them, but...well, if Kumatora was right, they were running on spare time right now, until the pigmasks caught up. He did not want to find out what would happen if they caught up.

As it was, Murasaki was similar to Sunshine Forest in only that they both had trees. The trees themselves had an eerie darkness to them that sent shivers down Claus' spine--it just added to the air of melancholy that the forest had. It didn't help that over the dark colors that seemed to be a purple haze.

(He added that to his list of weird things.)

Out of them all, Duster seemed the most unaffected. Even Kumatora seemed a little hesitant of the place--which was surprising. She seemed like the least likely person to be freaked out by the place.

Regardless, Claus found himself on edge as they headed through the forest. There didn't seem to be any chimeras hanging around the area, hiding in the purple haze. It was entirely quiet, as if this place had remained untouched since Duster had been here last.

And then Boney growled. As if summoned by the growl, something approached through the darkness. Claus clenched his hands on his good bokken as the figure finally broke through the purple haze. It was a chimera: But a chimera unlike anything Claus had seen before.

It was like some kind of twisted octopus, with a lion's head and metallic tentacles coming out of where the neck should've been. It led itself along these tentacles, as if those were its legs. The way it moved was unnatural, sliding and shuddering.

Claus felt like he was going to be sick. Nothing should move like that--it was...sick and horrifying. It really made him want to just abandon this egg thing and run back home, because the pigmasks going after him weren't as bad as this...right?

But the thought reminded him: This chimera--this thing only existed because the pigmasks and their scientists created it. If they could do something like this, what was stopping them from doing it to humans too?

He shook himself: If they had then someone would've noticed. Someone would care--he hoped.

Either way, he thought as he raised his good bokken, this thing wasn't going to just leave them alone. It was time to fight.

Kumatora shot off the first attack out of panic, a sharp PK Fire. He's not sure how it can be sharp but--it was, somehow. It made the lion-octopus screech and back away from them. Duster dove forward, one of his legs kicking out and catching the lion-octopus around the head.

It reared back and screech-roared at them. Duster winced back at the tinny roar and Claus stepped forward, flinging a PK Freeze at it. The chimera shrieked again at the frost that coated its tentacles and fur, biting into whatever flesh might still be on it.

Boney rushed past all three of them and gave it a sharp headbutt. The chimera reared back again, hissed at them, and then scuttled away. It seemed that it had decided they weren't worth the trouble of burns and frostbite.

"What the hell is wrong with those pigmasks?" Kumatora burst out as soon as it was gone. "That thing...! The others might be a little freaky but that thing was unnatural!"

Claus shuddered: She wasn't wrong. That chimera shouldn't exist. He shook his head, to try and get the image of it out of his head. "W-well, we should...keep going, right?" He peered past the older members of their group and into the trees.

Duster nodded weakly and the four of them continued deeper into the forest. There were a few more chimeras along the way, but none were as unusual and unnatural as the lion-octopus they had come across earlier. One was a strange combination a shark and a kangaroo while the other was a tortoise with metal attached to its back.

They fought most of them off with little problem but others they decided to avoid others. In the cases of avoidance, it was because they didn't want to waste their PSI Points before they got the egg. After all, they still had to walk back.

As they arrived in a clearing and Duster stuttered to a stop. "...This is where the hole was, before, but..." He stared at the clearing, obviously aghast at the sight.

Claus could understand: There were at least ten holes scattered throughout the clearing.

"Are you serious?" Kumatora groaned. "What the heck made all these holes...?" She approached nearest one and peered down into the darkness, cupping her hands around her mouth as she yelled a greeting down into the darkness.

Duster shook his head. "There was only one hole the last time I was here. I don't know why that changed..." He knelt down and looked into the hole with her.

Boney went on ahead, sniffing around the holes as if trying to find Duster's scent. Which wouldn't work because it's been three years. Why would Duster's scent still be there?

Claus ended up trailing after Boney on his own anyway. He peered down into the holes that Boney lingered around but usually there was nothing to be see down inside. Okay, so maybe that wasn't true--it was just way too dark for him to tell.

Eventually, he spotted a tunnel entrance at the cliff that line the southern end of the clearing. Claus called to the others and they headed into the tunnel entrance, wary of what might be waiting for them in the darkness.

It didn't seem to be anything other than what waited them above their heads: Chimera and the faint purple haze. Not until a mole popped out of a smaller hole in the wall. They seemed surprised to see them and for a brief moment Claus wondered if it was reconstructed mole--but the drill bit they were holding turned out to be a tool only, as they placed it to the side.

"(Whatcha doing down here, human buddies?)" They asked, approaching them. When they got close, they laughed, suddenly. "(Oi, forgot, you human buddies can't understand us, can you?)"

Claus frowned at them. "I can--and we're done here because we're...trying to find a tunnel entrance from three years ago?" Maybe asking was too easy--but it'd better than them wandering around in confusion for the next five hours or more.

The mole seemed surprised by the reply--mostly because of the assertion that Claus could understand him probably. "(Eh...that'll be one of the north tunnels. Though I gotta ask: How can you understand me?)"

Kumatora stepped forward and around them, saying over her shoulder; "It's called PSI, mole guy. Anyway--We're talking about the tunnels that go from the surface to these tunnels, okay?" She jabbed a finger up to where sunlight drifted down and dimly lit the tunnels up.

"(Oh, those ones? It'd still be up north--though only those tunnels leads to an underground tunnel. Sorry, can't help any more than that.)" The mole shrugged before leaning over and picking up their drill bit and setting to work on making the hole they had come from larger.

Over the din of the drill bit cutting into rock, Claus said, "Well I guess we could just stake out the northern area--we could probably just figure it out from there right?"

Duster frowned. "...Maybe? I might recognize it if I see it but If not we might have to go back up top." Kumatora made a face at that but followed their lead into the tunnels. They kicked down the chimera species they had run into above with ease when they found the tunnel that led to the place Duster had hidden the egg.

It was across a chasm in the ground.

"Seriously?" Kumatora hissed furiously. "Ugh, fine! Come on, let's go back up--There's no way we're going to cross that." She turned on her heel and stormed off. Claus followed her, just as frustrated as she was: How could he not be, when they had to walk and fight all the way back to the holes? Never mind the fact that they might have to fight their way back again if they don't get it right the first time--

He let out a breath, trying to channel all his frustration into it. Well, he also channeled it into his swings as they fought through chimera a second time, but same difference either way. Because it didn't really help much.

Unfortunately, they also had to fight when they reached the surface. Claus heard Boney whine behind his legs when they spotted the parental kangasharks wandering around ahead of them.

Claus brushed his red hair out of his eyes and glared at the chimera that they had fought off, watching it bounce away back into the trees. He hissed to himself before turning to the others. Kumatora was wiping the sweat from her brow and Duster shook dust from his shoes.

Boney was sitting by a hole, his nose brushing the grass along the hole. The dog started barking and bounced away from the hole, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Claus called to the others and they all went over to the bouncing eager dog.

"Did you find it?" Kumatora asked.

The dog barked. "(Yeah! Or...I think I did? How are we going to get down?)" Boney looked down into the hole curiously. Claus frowned: He hadn't thought of that.

Kumatora smirked. "Well, kids--We're going to jump." Duster muttered he wasn't going to jump but the pink haired girl jumped into the hole without hesitation. Boney yelped as she disappeared into the darkness of the underground.

Claus exchanged incredulous looks with Duster before they followed her example--albeit more carefully. When they got down to the bottom, Claus got on Duster's shoulders and helped Boney down the hole.

Duster led them through the only tunnel connected to the lone path section. It was actually fairly empty of chimera, which meant they didn't have to do much fighting. The path inside the tunnel made them get turned around, because well. They couldn't see the sky.

They came out into a grassy valley. At first, Claus thought it was empty--untouched by the pigmasks. But along the horizon to the northeast was a large red and white tower. It...was oddly ominous and Claus couldn't figure out why. 

Ahead of them was a mossy green statue, sitting on the ground.

It was...weirdly familiar and Claus frowned. Where had he seen that design before? It was itching at the back of his head, like it was trying to remind him of what it was.

"So that was where you hid the egg?" Kumatora asked, leaning her hands on her knees to get a better look at the statue.

Duster stepped up next to her and knelt down. "Yeah, this is where it was." He reached forward, as if to put his hand inside the statue.

He didn't get the chance as Kumatora suddenly jerked forward, grabbing Duster's shoulder, and pushing them both back away from the statue. Lightning roared down from the sky and impacted against the statue. Claus looked around and saw the tower, again, crackled with lightning. Had that come from the tower?

...Did all the lightning come from that tower?

Before he could think about that too hard, the statue got up. And then he realized why it was familiar: It was a clayman. An old one, that hadn't been used in a long time, but...it still reacted to the lightning in its system as if it was brand new.

"Shot, where the heck did it go?!" Kumatora shrieked. "The egg...!"

Duster leapt to his feet. "Come on, we need to go after it!" He raced ahead of them, keeping ahead despite the limp. Don't judge a book by its cover, okay kids?

Claus raced after with Kumatora just ahead and Boney on his heels. They dodged around the chimera in their path--most of whom seemed stunned from the clayman that had just stormed through. It wasn't hard to follow its path, thankfully. They ran around the strange tower's base and further into the forest. Which may or may not be Murasaki.

They caught up to it just in time to see it storm into one of the pigmasks' factories. Claus cringed: How the heck were they supposed to keep following it now?

And then he saw Kumatora, who still stormed further forward--right into the factory. Horrified, Claus raced after her. Which was lucky because just as he caught upm, the pigmasks noticed her. "What're you doing in here?!" One of them snapped, clearly upset by Kumatora's prescence.

The other pigmask raised one of those ray guns the pigmasks carry. "We'll have to take you out." They stated simply, readying the gun to fire.

The third pigmask suddenly reached out and jerked the gun down as Claus stopeed and tensed up next to Kumatora. "Don't!! Are you crazy?? She's with the Commander." They snapped.

Commander? Claus leaned back and glanced at Duster. He looked just as confused but--who could they be talking about? The other two pigmasks jolted, studied them, and terrifiedly saluted them before rushing off to their posts.

"Sorry about that, sir!!," The third pigmask, now the only one, said, bowing to...Claus? Claus blinked and hesitated: Did he really think a thirteen year old boy was their commander? That seemed unlikely. The pigmask continued. "Oh but--Commander! You really should be in your uniform! And your companions too, what are they wearing??"

As soon as they finished talking, they were pushing the group of four to a side room. Once they were inside, he told them he'd get their uniforms for them to change into.

All Claus could think was: _What the heck is going on?_

* * *

Claus stared at the clothes he was wearing.

He had chosen to keep on his orange pants but had folded up his two shirts and carried them with him when he rejoined the others. But still...this outfit looked nothing like the other uniforms. Greens, reds, and golds...it weirded him out.

The main piece was a green vest with golden accents. The shirt was under it was a dark brown almost black shirt. At his throat he had struggled with a weird red tie-thing that was fairly puffy. There were a bunch of tiny metallic accessories that Claus decided to leave behind, along with the bronze-brown gloves.

Picking up his folded shirts, he peeked out of the room and spotted...Boney, with a golden pigmask on his head. Or it looked like it was supposed to be on his head: The way it was balanced looked like it could come off at any time. There were two 'pigmasks' with him and Claus mused that they must be Kumatora and Duster. Hopefully.

As soon as he got close, the shorter of the two pigmasks let out a sigh of grumbling relief. "Finally--C'mon, Claus, we've got to find that clayman!" Kumatora, then, which meant his assumption had been right, thankfully.

Claus made a face at her. "Do we have any idea where it even went from here?" He asked as Duster took his shirts and gave him back his good bokken.

"Apparently claymen will try to throw themselves away if they're no longer in operable condition," Duster said, "So we just have to go to where the garbage truck picks up the trash and we'll find it."

He muttered a 'oh' and that was mostly it: They still had to navigate the factory. That wasn't too hard when the pigmasks in the factory were more than willing to help them find the garbage pick-up and the very clayman they were chasing.

A couple of them joked that whatever they hid in that clayman must be important. All Claus could think was that it was weird to hide stuff in clay. Wasn't that the worst thing you could do to stuff? He really didn't get the pigmasks at all.

Of course, their luck ran out as soon as they stepped out onto the garbage pick-up bay. Not because someone finally realized that Claus wasn't their commander, but because they saw a clayman leap into a garbage truck. The very same mossy clayman they had chased all this way.

Claus snarled and raced after the truck. Like heck he was just going to let it get off without him! They needed that egg for--something and even if he didn't know what that was, Claus wasn't going to let it get away like this. Not when Kumatora and Duster were trying so hard to get it back!

The truck quickly left him in its dust.

He slowed to a stop to catch his breath. He heard the sound of footsteps and claws clicking on asphalt behind him, as he rested. "Sorry, I lost it." He muttered to them.

Kumatora adjusted her mask so she could talk without beind muffled, when a strange bean shaped thing floated towards them at high speeds. It slowed to a stop in front of them and another pigmask jumped out. "Commander!!" They yelled Kumatora hastily lowered her mask again. "Are you trying to get after that garbage truck? If so, please take my pork bean!! I can get back to the factory on foot!!"

Before Claus could even say anything, the pigmask was jogging back towards the factory they'd come from. Claus gapped after them because--what? What in the world? Did the pigmasks really like this Commander guy that much?

"...That was weird!" Kumatora muttered. "Let's take this thing anyway--I don't think we can afford to fall behind that garbage truck."

The rest of the group agreed and they clambered onto the...pork bean. Kumatora eagerly grabbed the controls as Claus looked around the small space--It was...really weird. Who made stuff like this?

And then it jerked forward as Kumatora pushed the controls of the pork bean inward. Claus squawked as he ran into Duster and the two stumbled to the floor. Boney was pressed down to the ground, whining loudly at the sudden motion.

"K-Kumatora?!" Claus shriek--yelled, he did not shriek. "I think you need to slow down!!" He struggled to get off of Duster but his hand just slipped, causing him to fall on the man again.

She laughed weakly as she glanced over her shoulder. "Uh, guys, I don't. Know if I can stop it?" Kumatora's hands were tight on the controls.

Panic. Pure panic was all Claus could think as Kumatora started poking at the dashboard. Were they going to crash and die? That--Claus didn't want to die--he had to go home, and make sure his dad got his letter after they got this stupid egg...!

He heard Kumatora gasp and say something about going lower--but he didn't quite get it. Because just as she said that, he saw yellow things scattered across the road. They were just yellow things, stark against the gray concrete, yet...something about it seemed familiar.

And then the pork bean skidded across the ground, ran over a mass of the yellow things, and crashed.

This all seemed to happy in only a few minutes and Claus groaned as he tried to figure out which way was up again. He touched a hand to his head and saw something warm and crimson spread across his fingers. In the crash, he must've hit his head. Claus fumbled, trying to stand up as he heard the other start groaning around him.

Boney whimpered from where he was hidden beneath some of the broken pork bean's structure. Duster was a couple feet away from Claus, to his left, and Kumatora was curled under the broken dashboard. That crash had completely totaled the pork bean: There was no way they could keep using it.

"Guys." Claus gasped, pushing himself to his knees. "Guys, it's broken."

Kumatora hissed. "We've noticed." She struggled to get out from under the dashboard as Duster weakly got up, leaning on his good leg. Boney whined again and Claus finally noticed that Boney's mask was nowhere to be seen. He wondered where it had gone.

The group of four carefully gathered themselves and set to healing their injuries--mostly thanks to Kumatora's PK Lifeup. Without that they'd probably be in dire straits.

Claus was glad they were cleaning up when another pork bean showed up. A tall pigmask with...horns stepped out, looking concerned. Claus stared at the horns because what? Humans didn't have horns. He thought it might've been part of a mask, if the man had been wearing one.

Which he wasn't.

"Commander!!" The man cried, saluting him. "Are you alright?? I heard the crash!! ...Oh, your pork bean!! If you need it, you may use mine!!"

The pigmask man turned around and all Claus could think was: Did the pigmasks always talk over this Commander guy? Because man, that would suck to never get a word in edge wise.

Kumatora winced as she struggled out from under the dashboard, her mask slipping off. "Claus, get back! That's Trooper Hans!" She gasped out, abandoning the mask.

Trooper Hans paused, sniffing the air and snarling. "Wait a second, you're not the Commander...you're...some kid?? What the hell." He stepped closer, chains rattling off cuffs attached to his arms. "Why are you wearing the commander's clothes, you imposter?!"

Claus scowled. "You guys are the ones that forced it on me!" He snapped, frustration boiling up again. Why was he being blamed for something that wasn't his fault? How many times was that going to happen, now?

The trooper answered with a furious swing. Claus barely dodged back as the man's fists smashed the concrete and asphalt beneath them. He would've died if that had hit him, instead of the ground!

Fire soared past Claus' ear as Kumatora unleashed a PK Fire β. He grimaced and summoned a PK Freeze, frost biting at his fingers. The PK Freeze impacted on the opposite side of the PK Fire, leaving frost across one arm and burns across the other.

He roared in pain and swung again, causing Claus to dodge back a second time. Duster sped past him and kicked Trooper Hans across the head, careful of his horns. He roared at Duster and tried to punch him--before faltering, as he took in Duster's face.

Claus didn't stop to think about that as he slid around Duster to smash his good bokken on the back of the trooper's head a couple of times. The trooper howled and swung back, clipping Claus' side. He flinched as he rolled away from the trooper. The pigmask had barely hit him and Claus was already hurting.

This guy...was way too strong.

At the thought he remembered something else he thought was 'too strong': PK Love. Claus grimaced and glanced down at his free hand. Should he use it? He had refrained up until now but what choice did they have? This guy...he'd kill them, if they didn't do something.

Taking a deep breath, Claus flicked a finger forward and focused the power entirely on the trooper. Blue and Red hexagons flickered forward and exploded across the trooper's body. The man roared in pain and fell back, clutching at himself as if to shield him from the pain.

Yeah, that wasn't going to block PK Love, sorry. Claus adjusted himself and focused all the power on the trooper a second time. Kumatora seemed to have caught on to what he was doing and backed away, dragging Duster with her. The trooper readied himself to charge at Claus but the second wave of PK Love stopped him in his tracks.

He didn't have a lot of PP left, as he could feel his arms grow heavier with each of his PSI attacks. Claus eyed the trooper and thought, _One more time_. As he readied himself to fire another PK Love, the trooper swung his arms. It cut off his attack and Claus backed off yet again.

Instead of going in for another attack, Trooper Hans snarled and also backed away, looking around for...something. Before Claus could pinpoint what--or anyone could--the trooper was off, disappearing into a set of tunnels that the roads beneath them led to. Claus watched him go, baffled.

Trooper Hans had been so angry at them--and yet he was running away? It didn't make any sense--unless...Unless Claus had hurt him enough that the damage was too much for him to keep fighting. He kind of hoped it was that and they wouldn't see him again.

"What attack was that?" Kumatora leapt up next to him, grinning like the madwoman she was. "I've never seen a PSI move like that before."

Claus shrugged weakly, taken aback by her attitude. "It was just--something I remembered having that did a lot of damage. I didn't use to before because it uses a lot of PP..." Why did his head hurt, all of a sudden? It was like a rabbit was thumping the insides of his skull.

He staggered and Kumatora caught him. "Woah--You okay?" She asked, peering down at him.

"I don't know--My head is killing me, now," Claus said, clutching his head with his free hand.

Kumatora frowned and pressed a hand to his forehead. "Oh jeez, you're burning up...Have you had a PSI fever before?" She peered down at him as he shook his head, confused by the term. What the heck was a PSI fever?

She grimaced at his response. "Basically? You're getting a new PSI move. It just hurts like hel--ck when you're first getting them. It'll pass." Kumatora led him up to the new pork bean, Duster and Boney waiting for them with the masks they had retrieved from the wreckage.

Duster looked at them in concern. "What's wrong, Claus?"

"PSI Fever." Kumatora replied for him. "I'll handle it--You just focus on those weird controls." Duster frowned at her but nodded, turning back to the dashboard as Kumatora let her hands frost up with a PK Freeze.

Claus stared at her hands. "...Will your hands be okay, like that?"

She snickered lightly. "Yeah, they'll be fine. Now I'm going to hold them on your forehead to help with the fever--All I can do is make it more bearable, alright?" Claus sighed and nodded as she pressed her frosty hands to his forehead.

Boney leaned against his leg as the pork bean thrummed to life. It whizzed along and Claus grimaced. The speed was just...unnatural and it made his stomach want to flip a million times. He could live with it, but between that and his headache, he kind of wanted to die.

Kumatora snickered as he groaned under her hands. "Hey, we're going to be fine. Duster seems to know what he's doing and it shouldn't be too far from us." That was a platitude if he'd ever heard one--and he'd heard a lot of them.

"I won't argue about Duster," Claus said with a groan, "But I'm pretty sure we've lost the garbage truck."

She made a face at him and he closed his eyes in response. He really didn't feel like continuning that conversation, because his headache was mounting. The cool ice on Kumatora's hands did almost nothing for the fever and headache, so Claus just leaned back against the wall of the pork bean.

He winced as Kumatora pulled her hands back and sighed. "Looks like my PK Freeze won't work anymore. On the bright side, that means the fever won't last for much longer. Power through this part, okay?" She leaned back and stood up, walking over to Duster's seat.

Claus puffed and thought _Easy to say, but harder to do_. Because this was awful. The only time he'd ever felt this badly sick was when he and Lucas had spent an hour in the sea late at night. Between the cold of the air and wind and the icy sea, they'd both gotten pretty badly sick.

At least back then he could've held Lucas' hand while they were recovering.

Boney whined as the pork bean slowed to a stop. "Sorry." Duster apologized. "I made a wrong turn--but I think we need to all take a quick break." He didn't look too well either--Claus was glad to know the others weren't handling the pork bean very well either.

They piled out, all of them relieved to have fresh air. Claus limped along, grimacing at the brightness of the world. Is this what getting hungover felt like? He'd heard some of the adults in Tazmily complain about it but he had always thought they were just whining. He wasn't going to doubt them about it sucking now.

Of course, just as he made that resolve, he tripped over his own feet. Smacking face first into the ground was probably one of the worst things he could do, his head feeling like it was going to explode as a result.

And then, just as he thought he was probably going to die from it, his head stopped hurting.

Thunder, a voice muttered in his ear and Claus blinked, sitting up. Thunder? He thought he'd seen Kumatora use an attack like that before but he couldn't remember for sure. If it was then he supposed that was good for them. More attacks meant far more fire power, when it came down to it.

"(Oh, that was quite a tumble! Are you alright young one?)" He squinted and swung his head around, trying to spot the speaker. Claus felt something small and sharp on his knee and he looked down, spotting a small white rat. They tilted their head at him. "(Ah, I forgot. You can't understand me, can you?)"

Claus sighed. "Yes, I can--and I'm fine. Don't worry about me, miss--or is it mister?" He peered down at the small thing's white fur, tinted slightly orange from the dust of the cliffs.

The mouse laughed lightly, startled even as they were amused. "(Miss is fine--Are you sure you'll be alright?)"

He felt frustration burn in his gut and he bit back his urge to snap that, yes he was alright. One of the things that Claus hated was when it seemed like someone was doubting him. While he didn't think the little mouse was 'doubting' him, it sure felt that way.

Taking a deep breath, Claus, as calmly as he could, said, "Yes, I'm sure. Miss, what're you doing out here?" The place was a dead end, so he thought it was unlikely that she lived here but who was he to judge?

She peered at him and then sighed. "(Well, if you're sure, young one. Oh! If you're going out, do be careful! There's a bit of a brute hanging around the highways and you might get hurt!)" The mouse waited for him to nod before she returned his nod with self satisfied smile and turned away. She scampered off, disappearing into the dust of the dead end.

Claus watched her go, bemused by the whole conversation. It was always weird when someone unrelated to him expressed concern for his safety these days. He had a feeling that probably a bad thing but when your hometown was suddenly a cult that rejected anyone who didn't agree with them, it was easy to fall into that state of mind.

He turned around to see Kumatora and Duster both putting their masks back on, with the former helping adjust Boney's mask on his head so it wouldn't fall off too easily. Claus sighed and hurried over, no longer feeling as unsteady and sick as he had earlier. He wasn't sure if that was because he was no longer feeling sick or because the headache was gone, but he wasn't going to complain.

Duster looked up and said, "Are you alright, Claus? I saw you fall earlier."

"I'm fine, it wasn't that bad." He paused and then ruffled his hair a bit with a sigh. "My fever is gone?? And I feel like I never had one at all." This PSI fever thing was strange.

Kumatora gave him a thumbs up as she tilted her mask up. "Yeah, PSI fevers are like that. So what'd you get?"

Claus shuffled his feet, frowning. "Just PK Thunder." What were the other PK moves, anyway? He did remember Kumatora yelling something about beta earlier, not that he actually understood why. That was something he should probably ask about, actually.

She clicked her tongue in disappointment. "No β moves huh? That's too bad. Probably next time, though." Kumatora turned away as Duster and Claus shared baffled looks. What the heck did beta even mean?

Once they'd scrambled back onto the pork bean and Duster fired up, Claus turned back to her. "What the heck is beta? You've mentioned it a couple times, now," He said.

"Wait you don't know? Who woke your PSI and didn't even..." Kumatora shook her head, exasperated. "β moves are stronger than the moves you first learn. Like--PK Fire is just a match whole PK Fire β is a torch. There are a couple levels above those too, but...well, do you get it, kid?"

Claus blinked and nodded. Kumatora gave a thumbs up before turning around and heading to watch the roads whiz by. He sighed, leaned back in a chair, and patted Boney's back. Today was crazier than he thought it would be when he woke up.

Granted, it's not like he expected to be forced into a uniform he had never seen, ride a weird floating vehicle, or to fight a strange maybe human-chimera. Who could even expect that?

The pork bean suddenly slowed to a stop and Claus jerked up. He peered out the window as he spotted the garbage truck, disappearing down a tunnel ahead of them. Why were they stopping? The truck was just ahead of them!

"Duster--!" He turned to the older man.

The man shook his head. "We're in the dump now. The truck dropped off everything inside it--which means the clayman is here." He shifted and pressed some stuff on the dashboard, causing the pork bean to lower and open up again.

Claus pursed his lips but followed them out of the pork bean. Kumatora led the way, diving down into a pit just to the side of the road. Duster called after her about using ladders before he scaled down the side of the pit after her. Claus sighed and pulled Boney's mask off his head and set it aside within the pork bean. The stupid thing was getting in Boney's way.

He followed the older half of their group and looked around. There didn't seem to be a lot here besides piles of old gray clay and random pieces of metal and junk. Claus frowned: How were they going to find the clayman in all this?

Kumatora seemed to agree. "This is bad," She said as Duster disappeared around a tower of clay and junk, "How're we supposed to find it in all this crap?"

That was something he didn't know how to answer.

Claus opened his mouth, maybe to reply, maybe to complain with her, but he snapped it shut when Duster called out. The trio glanced at each other and rushed forward around the clay tower. "Duster!" Claus called out as he swung around it.

He had to be okay, right? They'd just gotten here, so he couldn't have gotten hurt already, right? That was just a silly thought to think. Especially because Duster could handle himself.

Duster turned around in surprise when they caught up. "Oh, what's wrong?" He asked curiously.

Kumatora deadpanned at him. "Seriously? We thought you were hurt, you moron." She tapped her foot, scowling at him. Claus mirrored her--though he crossed his arms instead of putting them on his hips.

"Ah--Sorry." Duster smiled wryly. "It's just--I found the clayman." He pointed over his shoulder, where a mossy green-gray clayman was slumped on its side. It was definitely the very same clayman they had been chasing after for the past couple hours.

(Now, before you shake your heads at how unobservant they are, you must understand. There four? They've been dealing with the sound of lightning and thunder firing off above their heads. I think you can forgive them for not hearing this thing shamble up behind them.)

Claus saw it out of the corner of his eye before he heard it. It was swinging a massive claw-like thing towards them as it squelched. It was made of claw and junk and Claus wondered: Was this a clayman or something?

No matter what it was, though, he found himself rearing back, lashing out with his good bokken at the same time. It dinged away from the metal claw and it continued squelching at them. Kumatora had dropped to the ground next to him and Duster was yelling--at who, Claus had no idea.

He clenched his hands on the good bokken before pointing the end of it at the clayman-thing and trying to focus a PK Freeze through the end. While it did come out, coating the junk clayman in frost, it didn't seem as powerful as when it had been from his hands. Was it just weaker that way?

Duster sped past him, dive kicking the claw into the junk clayman's body. It got stuck in the clay that made up its body and Claus was pretty sure it would've clanked aganst the junk also in the clay if it hadn't gotten stuck in the clay. As it was, the squelching just seemed to get louder as it moved towards them, struggling to pull the claw free.

Kumatora's hands had a fog of cool air around them as she summoned a PK Freeze β. It froze the clay around the claw and the junk clayman groaned aloud as it kept struggling with that and trying to attack them at the same time. Claus grimaced and started summoning his own PK Freeze to try and reinforce the PK Freeze β Kumatora had used.

Taking a deep breath, Claus kept the PK Freezes coming. His good bokken would probably just get stuck in the clay too and he didn't want to lose his only weapon while they were in the middle of enemy territory. And while PK Freeze might not be going a lot of damage, it was better than nothing.

He jolted as he felt a hand on his shoulder, with Boney head-butting the junk clayman. It took him a moment to recognize the voice. "--aus." Duster murmured in his ear. "Claus. If you can, can you keep freezing that clayman with Kumatora? If you can freeze it completely, we can shatter it!"

Claus stared at him before nodding sharply. This was their only chance to end this thing as quickly as possible. Tossing his good bokken from right to left and back to right, Claus prepared a PK Freeze. Duster rushed past and quickly relayed his plan to her too before heading ahead to kicking the junk clayman again.

There was a couple of seconds before Kumatora snarled a cheer and let out a couple of PK Freezes. He couldn't tell the level--he was too focused on his own PK attacks to pay attention to that. Well, his attacks and his PP: If the latter ran out he'd have to focus on physical attacks, which wouldn’t do any good on this guy.

Plus, he knew he didn't have as much PP as Kumatora did.

The junk clayman was barely moving now. It shuttered under the covering of ice and frost, no longer making that awful squelching sound as it tried to move. Claus pulled on his PP--the last of what he could use--and threw one more PK Freeze. Finally, with his and Kumatora's last PP, they froze the junk clayman solid.

Duster darted forward again and swung his legs around in another dive kick. It broke right through the clayman, causing it to break into two pieces. The bottom half broke apart into tiny bits of clay, no longer held together by whatever held claymen together.

The head stayed together, and it made those quiet groaning squash sounds as it struggled to bring itself back together. Duster stepped over to it and put his foot through the head, crushing the device that kept it together. They stood there together, watching the junk clayman crumble apart into bits of clay and the junk that made it.

"Alright!" Kumatora punched a fist into the air. "Nice, we beat it!! That clay thing doesn't got anything on us!"

Claus snorted and laughed. Together he and Kumatora started laughing, leaning on each other to try and stifle their amusement. Duster sighed at them before heading back to the mossy clayman they'd been chasing and began digging for the egg.

Once he pulled it free from the clay, Duster began cleaning it off with his free hand. Claus tilted his head and frowned as he felt a sting zip through his hands and up his arms. He jolted at the feeling, wondering where it came from.

Duster suddenly jolted, the egg getting tossed in the air in the process. He juggled it for a moment before it got tossed behind him, leaving it to Kumatora to catch. "What the heck are you doing??" She cried, exasperated by his actions.

"S-sorry, I..." Duster brought a hand to his head, his brow furrowed. "I think...I think I might have remembered something?"

Kumatora coughed and then stashed the egg in a pocket of the uniform. "What do you mean you remembered something?" She asked, baffled.

He shook his head with a frown. "I...It's a bit of a blur. I can’t quite grasp it--I think I need a moment…" Duster pressed his head harder again his head with a frown. His heavy expression left Claus worrying: He didn't look too good. What had that egg done?

Before Claus could ask Duster if he needed a break to sit down for a while, an unknown voice called out to them. Kumatora snagged Duster's pigmask and dropped it on his head, hissing at him to try and keep his head low.

A pigmask came around the tower and paused, glancing down at the broken junk clayman before looking back up at Claus and co. "Commander!!" The pigmask saluted happily. "I was told you were heading here!! We need you at Thunder Tower urgently, Commander!!"

"...I see?" Claus offered even as the pigmask turned around, clearly expecting Claus and the others to follow them. He huffed and glanced at Kumatora and Duster: The former gave him a sharp encouraging nod while the latter just kept his hand close to his head.

(Right, he probably had a headache still, if he had remembered something.)

Claus let out a deep breath before followed after the pigmask. He heard both Kumatora and Duster follow him, while Boney kept ahead of him. The dog didn't seem all that willing to let Claus lead. What an overprotective pup.

He had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good news!! I'm going to be actually working soon at my new job!! having money again will be nice
> 
> bad news!! that means that updates are probably....going to slow down a lot haha. especially at the length they are.
> 
> edit, 9/24/2018; Just a quick update on the current status: this ISN'T in hiatus. my job is kicking my butt and between this and older (and newer) projects i'm working on at the same time as this, the next chapter is slow going. However I hope ti have it up by the time october rolls around!! so look forward to that?


	6. thunder tower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to my gf Laura (@dolfabre) for betaing again!!
> 
> >:3c guess who just updated.
> 
> sorry this chapter is so horrifically late! i started focusing on getting a job around the time I started writing this chapter and then a bunch of other irl stuff was happening and it just piled up until I could only write a little bit at a time. add on to the fact this was a hard chapter to write and you got a recipe for disaster

Thunder Tower was a strange place. Not just because that the thunder making...thing on the top caused the area (and probably the tower itself) to shake but also because it was just geniuely weird. The white and red color scheme stood out amongst the forest-y greens and browns. It rumbled high above their heads and Claus wondered why they were doing this.

Why were they attacking the village? Tazmily hadn't done anything to deserve this and more over there was no point. Unless it had everything to do with the Happy Boxes. Would they really go that far just to sell those things?

Claus would like to say no, but most of his experience with the pigmasks disagreed. They would do this--or at least, Fassad totally would. That guy never did care about what he had to do to get people to get Happy Boxes. Besides, he was the one who 'warned' them about lightning striking houses if they didn't get the Happy Boxes, after all.

They were still inside the pork bean they'd been ushered into after retrieving the egg. It was hard not to shift around nervously because honestly he's pretty sure this Commander guy they mistook him for....probably wouldn't be nervous. Right? He's a leader, leaders wouldn't be nervous right?

He literally has no idea.

As it was, Kumatora seemed just about ready to snap, with how she was tapping her fingers against her knees. Duster was fiddling with his sleeves, his mask swiveling around as he seemed to be looking around at everyone. Claus kind of wished he had a mask to hide behind as well.

"Commander, sir??" Claus jolted as one of the two pigmasks that were inside the pork bean tilted their head at him. "Are you alright?? You seem...distressed about something!!"

Were all pigmasks this excitable or was it only because they thought he was this Commander guy? Claus nodded at the pigmask, unwilling to actually open his mouth. Mostly because he had a feeling he might be sick over it.

The pigmask seemed to watch him a few minutes before nodding and turning back to the other pigmask. Boney snorted at the pigmask from where he was sitting at his feet. Claus puffed as he leaned forward, patting the dog on the head.

After what felt like hours they began slowing down. Kumatora grumbled under her breath as she tried to hide the way the slow down made her stomach roll--Tried to, because Claus could see her press her hands to her stomach. Not that he can blame her: It was the worst thing he'd experienced so far.

Claus briefly made a face as the pork bean finally stopped. The two pigmasks that had been inside it already bounced to their feet and hustled outside, waving their arms frantically. He glanced at his...friends(?) and Boney before following the pigmask duo out of the pork bean.

"...What exactly is it that you need me for?" He finally asked, eyeballing the two who had ushered them into the pork bean.

One of them immediately started saluting him frantically. "There's some trouble with Mr. Genetor--For some reason he's refusing to work!! Which means we all have to fight him again and we'll need your healing, Commander!!"

Heal--what? Claus stopped himself from frowning because he had no idea what the pigmask was talking about. Kumatora could heal a little bit with her PSI but Claus couldn't heal at all--Did this commander guy have PSI, then? And if so, could he heal? It sounded like he could fight but it seemed the pigmasks knew him more for his healing.

Claus kind of wanted to meet this Commander guy that could heal and had PSI. Even if he was a pigmask, he couldn't be too bad, right? If he could heal other people?

"Alright, I'll handle it." Claus fibbed as he glanced towards the white and red door to the right of the pork bean. The pigmasks frantically saluted him again as he and the others approached the door. As soon as they passed through and no pigmasks were in sight, Claus spun around and gave the others a horrified look. "What am I supposed to do? I can't heal!"

Kumatora grimaced as she pulled her helmet up. "I have no idea. If we just play along we're going to end up in a situation we can't get out of without a fight." Why was she upset about that? Claus knew Kumatora loved to throw down with pigmasks--unless she didn't want to deal with a whole base?

Eh, he had no idea either way.

Duster raised a hand. "Hey, so. There's no way we can get out of this place right now, either. We're stuck between a rock and a hard place." Boney barked his agreement from his spot at their feet.

"So, should we just head on forward and just try to escape at the first chance we've got?" Claus asked, fiddling with his sleeve cuffs. These clothes feel so strange, he thought, I can't wait to get back into my normal clothes.

With their new plan in mind, Claus hesitantly began leading the way forward. In the first room was a couple of strange chimeras chattering around their feet. Two pigmasks frantically saluted them and Claus instead turned his gaze on them.

With their new plan in mind, Claus hesitantly began leading the way forward. In the first room was a couple of strange chimeras chattering around their feet. Two pigmasks frantically saluted them and Claus instead turned his gaze on them.

The pigmasks seemed to panic a bit about that acknowledgement but didn't leave the room. Claus supposed they were at their posts so of course they didn't leave. How...obvious, really. He shifted as he tried to walk around the weird chimera, which was easier said than done. They seemed to enjoy sitting on his feet.

Claus was annoyed that only he seemed to be targeted by the things. They didn't seem at all interested in Kumatora or Duster and they didn't even acknowledge Boney.

He made a face at Kumatora when he heard her stifled snigger. It wasn't like he asked for the chimeras to like him for whatever reason. Claus sighed to himself, pinched Kumatora's hand and then scurried ahead past the two baffled pigmasks.

Eh, he was probably acting out of character right now. But he couldn't bring himself to care about it, considering they were going to be escaping soon. Duster seemed to be the only one of them that was still trying to keep in character. Good for him, Claus decided.

In the next room, there was a couple of people dressed in white coats huddled around a tube filled with green liquid. Claus...didn't want to know what was inside that, so he turned away from it and hustled to the next room. For a moment, he thought he heard one of the white coat people call to him but he decided he must've misheard.

He really, really didn't want to see inside that tube.

Kumatora grumbled as they passed into the next room. "What is up with that...creepy crap...Are we in a haunted lab or something?" She huffed as she rolled her shoulders. "Anyway, got any ideas where we're supposed to be going?"

"The center of the tower, maybe?" Duster offered hesitantly, peering into the mostly empty room. There were a couple of those overly affectionate chimera there that Claus ignored, despite the fact that they were huddled around his feet.

They agreed that heading towards the center of the tower might be their best bet--but it was also far more dangerous than trying to escape right now. If they go further inside the tower, they'd be playing along. Yet if they did that they'd also be putting themselves in the center of a pigmask base.

Which was kind of a dumb idea, Claus thought. But they also couldn't get out without fighting anyway. Maybe if they went up and joined in that fight they could figure out a way to escape using the fight?

He posed this though to the others. Duster made a face. "I don't know..." He muttered. "Leaving people to fight something that might be dangerous...it makes me feel a little bit nauseous."

"They're pigmasks. Isn't it just karma if they get their butts kicked?" Kumatora scoffed.

Duster frowned at her. "But they might _die_ , Kumatora. No one deserves death, especially if the thing they're going to be fighting is vicious." _It'd tear them apart_ , was left unsaid.

Claus hissed quietly under his breath. He didn't really want to help the pigmasks: They had ruined his life and his family and his home, so he was hard pressed to feel pity for them in such a situation. But...he didn't want Duster to be disappointed in him.

(He was one of the few people Claus cared about that was still around, after all. It'd hurt to have him hate Claus over the stupid pigmasks.)

More of the chimeras had clambered around Claus' feet, excited about their presence. He looked down at them, his mouth twisted at the sight of the strange mechanical creatures. "...Fine. We need to find a way to sneak out anyway and strong arming our way out will probably be bad for us." Claus felt like he was giving up but he knew he was being melodramatic.

That didn't mean he was at all that happy about it. And neither was Kumatora, considering her scowl. She didn't say anything but a quiet agreeing grumble--even if it was obvious that she wanted nothing to do with it. If they had no chance of getting out with the four of them, however, it was obvious she wasn't going to be able to get out on her own.

With the decision made the three humans and dog pressed further into the tower. Many of the room they passed through and poked around were mostly empty. Sometimes they'd pass a couple of pigmasks, but they would only salute Claus with gusto, like it was the best thing they'd done in their lives.

It still baffled him that anyone could worship someone else like they seemed to with this Commander. It just didn't seem all that healthy for them or the Commander.

Claus brushed his hair out of his eyes as they stopped in another room. "Okay do you guys think there's any rhyme or reason to the way this place is laid out?" They could pass from a rest area to a lab to a storage area and then get hopelessly lost. Which was what they were right now.

"I have nooo idea." Kumatora grumbled. "I thought magypsies had a weird way of organizing things..." She made a face at the door they had come from.

Duster tilted his mask up with a wry smile. "What's a magypsy?" He asked.

Kumatora pointed a finger at him. "I'll tell you later! When we're not here." Claus and Duster exchanged bemused looks before the latter put his mask back down pointedly.

Claus felt like he should already know what that term meant but let it go for now. They had plenty of time to find out about that sort of thing after they got out of this tower. He turned around and eye balled the many doors in the room, ignoring the one door they had come from.

The quartet peeked into the first of the doors, which was just a door into another empty room. It was strange how many empty rooms there were in this tower, for all that he was starting to think this Thunder Tower was connected to the lightning strikes. If it had been around for as long as that thought implied, than why were there so many empty rooms?

They poked through a couple more of the equally empty rooms before they found a room with actual people inside. Pigmasks, of course; there was no one else that would be inside. It seemed to be a command room as the pigmasks poked around the strange screens and like.

Claus wasn’t sure that was what the room was, though. The only clues that pointed to that besides the screens the pigmasks poured over was the larger screen that seemed to be a map of the island. Said map seemed to have a few locations on it marked out and Claus squinted at the map.

Was that his house marked on the map?

Well, that just confirmed his thoughts on this being connected to the lightning strikes somehow. He wrinkled his nose in a scowl and glanced at the others. It was clear by the frowns he could see that they seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Before he could ask them if they had, though, a pigmask colonel shoved their masked face into Claus' face.

"Commander!!" The pigmask yelled, causing the others gathered in the room to straighten at attention. "Are you here to deal with Mr. Gentor??"

Claus nodded slowly, not trusting his voice. The pigmask colonel seemed delighted and point at a door opposite to the massive map screen. "The boss is waiting for you at the ladder up!! I can't wait until you get Mr. Gentor calmed down: We really do need to get back to work you know, sir?!" The colonel beamed.

He found himself nodding again and the colonel practically bounced away. Boney whined at Claus from his heels and the boy shrugged at the dog. He had become rather uncomfortable with the pigmasks treatment of him. It was like he was on this pedestal he could never get off of, because the worshippers kept pushing him back onto it.

Letting that train of thought go, Claus led the group back out that door and around a crowd of yet more pigmasks and scientists, who were gathered around a clear capsule with strange fish inside. It seemed to be producing thunder and Claus, for a moment, wondered if that was what powered the tower. After all, it made thunder didn't it?

But they walked around them and up the stairs to the balcony that overlooked the work area. Standing there with their back to them was the 'boss' the colonel no fought spoke of--and Claus felt a shudder run down his spin. He...was pretty sure that was the same pigmask they'd fought earlier.

Great, were they up for a rematch?

For a moment, he considered trying to sneak past with the others. They could probably make it through to the ladder if they were patient--but Claus wasn't really feeling patient. He stepped closer, his expression hard as he drew the attention of the pigmask on them.

His unspoken question was answered as the pigmask turned around to look at them. It was indeed the very same pigmask they'd fought on the highways, wearing a dark blue uniform now. He seemed to be scowling at them from under his mask. "When I heard the Commander was here, I had hoped it was the real deal...I guess I was wrong."

Claus clasped his Good Bokken and swung it right at the pigmask's face in response. "I see!!" The pigmask roared. "So that's how it's going to be?! I was going to let you go this time--But that's not happening anymore!!" He slammed his hands on the ground, barely missing Claus.

Kumatora cursed. "Damn it, Claus! Give a girl some warning!" She called up PK Fire β with a fierce expression, letting the fire roll into the pigmask. Duster just sighed next to them and threw his wall staples at the pigmask's--wasn't his name Hans?--feet.

Hans tripped over the wall staples.

Bearing his teeth in a smile, Claus threw a PK Fire β alongside Kumatora's own, causing a double PK Fire to burn the pigmasks's mask away, along with parts of his uniform. Boney rushed under the fire and body slammed into Hans' side, causing him to stagger over the wall staples again.

This was...actually going really well. It made Claus feel like something was going to go wrong. Nothing ever went this well for them, before something horrible happened. And happened it did: Kumatora, knocked right off her feet and into the wall, practically unconscious.

She was in no state to fight, just from looking at her from afar. Up close...Claus cringed as Duster and Boney danced around Hans, keeping him distracted. "Shit." He muttered, apologizing mentally to his mother as he knelt next to the older woman. "Kuma, can you hear me?"

Kumatora made a face at him as she fumbled with the mask that had fallen off. Crimson blood slid down the side of her face and Claus reached out and wiped it away with a scowl. Damn it, why couldn't he heal? Sure, he could fight, but what was the use if the people he was protecting got killed or badly before he beat the enemy?

_("Here, let me help.")_

Claus started, pulling back his hands as a strange green aura flashed around them. It was gone in a moment but, somehow, the aura had healed Kumatora's head injury, even erasing any evidence it had even been there. "...Kuma?" He muttered, wondering about the strange stirring in his chest.

"Ugh, I feel like I got punched off a cliff." She stood up, holding her mask. "I'll be fine, Claus. Let's just take this guy down."

* * *

The fight had been a struggle. The following chase, as the fighting brought reinforcements and Fassad? Had been exhausting.

Kumatora had destroyed a couple of the stairs heading up the tower. It was the entire stairs: just a couple of each set, to make a gap they'd have to jump. After all, if they didn't make some sort of obstacle, the pigmasks would just catch up right away.

Duster had led the way up the way the tower, Boney on his heels. Claus kept looking over his shoulder at where Kumatora was throwing PK Fire β to destroy the stairs. He was a bit worried she'd get caught in the blasts but--he had to trust that she knew what she was doing. She had more experience with PSI than Claus did.

Below, the echoes of the pigmasks storming up towards them roiled up like a boiling pot of water. He grimaced at the sound and pushed forward up the staircases. A couple of the strange chimera that only seemed to want to cuddle came near, but huddled near the edges when Claus' group rushed past.

Kumatora grabbed his arm just as they reached a door and nodded down to the stairway they had just run up. Claus frowned at her and she smirked back. "We need to destroy this staircase, totally."

"Now wait just a moment!" Duster turned away from the door, his hand still on the knob. "If you do that that might destabilize the floor here--"

BLAM. Claus shuddered with the floor as she fired a PK Fire β at the stairs. "We'll run through the door." She replied, fire crackling in her hands. "So let's go." Duster grit his teeth, gave Claus an unhappy look, and then opened the door. He waited just inside, holding the door open as he waited for them to finish.

Claus let out a breath and summoned his own PK Fire to his hands. It was warm against his skin in the split second before he fired it at the same spot Kumatora had fired first. She fired a second right after him and the steps shuddered and started breaking apart into charred bits.

Kumatora gave him a sharp smile. "Fire together?" At his nod, they began channeling their attack--and fired.

The way the floor lurched made Claus cringe, even as the staircase began falling apart. Turning around, the two of them raced across the floor and barely managed to slide into the doorway before the majority of the floor was gone. What was left of the floor just barely clung to the doorway.

Duster pulled them back into the room. "I told you," he said wryly, giving them a small pained smile. Claus just flopped back and groaned in response. Kumatora just cackled at all of them, deeply amused by their reactions.

As they caught their breath, winded by their run and then the explosion that took down the landing, Boney began investigating the new room they had found. From the outside, with its bare walls, it looked boring. But the inside was the complete opposite: There were toys scattered throughout the room and the colors were...interesting.

The colors in fact were extremely bright pink and yellow, with splashes of blue. Claus squinted against the brightness, wondering about why someone would think such bright colors were a good idea. Kumatora seemed to agree as she mimed gagging at the walls.

What was most interesting, though, was the magic hot spring in the center of the room.

Claus remembered that these were supposed to be special, somehow. Why would something like that just be sitting there in the middle of a pigmask owned tower? What with them being pretty high up too.

Kumatora scooted over to investigate the hot spring and Claus turned to Duster. The (former?) thief just sighed to him. "We...really need to take a breather before we keep going and find a way back down."

"Is there one? We...kind of destroyed the staircases." Claus made a face, skeptical.

There was a splash of water as Kumatora peered over the edge of the hot spring. "We can just jump or something. I know a couple of PSI tricks we can use to get down."  She smirked over at them, leaning her elbows on the edge.

Duster forced a skeptical smile. "I don't know if that's a good idea. Or what you're doing right now is a good idea." He mimed 'wet clothes' at her and she rolled her eyes.

Claus frowned. "Is that...really a magic spring?"

Kumatora waved her hand. "Just call it a hot spring--and yeah it is! No need to worry about getting wet clothes here. And don't you trust me? Duster?" Kumatora turned up faux hurt eyes on him, despite the fact that it was pretty obvious that she didn't care if he said no.

He clearly didn't get the memo though, as he looked guilty. "Of course I do! You did watch out for me when I had lost my memories." Duster leaned over to peer into the waters. "I just--haven't seen one of these before."

Claus paused as he started pulling the commander uniform off. Did Duster really not know? He'd implied he'd remembered everything--but Claus couldn't remember if Duster had been acquainted with the only hot spring near where they lived. Whether or not he had or not, Claus decided it didn't matter. He'd seen one now.

Tugging on his stripped shirt, Claus said, "Well, I mean. Does it matter now? Let's just take a quick dip and then keep going."

Hesitating, Duster nodded and slipped into the hot spring with them. Boney bounced around along the edges just inside the hot spring, barking in delight. He was so happy that Claus felt bad about what was going to happen next: An angry maid robot appearing at the edge of the spring, attracted by Boney's barking.

She gave a tinny shriek that made Claus clasp his hands over his ears even as the robot maid grabbed Boney and flung the dog out of the spring. Boney yelped as he hit the ground and Duster was on his feet, brandishing his wall staples at the bot. Kumatora followed, her fists up and flaming while Claus scrambled to catch up. He watched in vague horror as the maid stomped down on his Good Bokken, snapping it beneath her foot.

Crap! Crap, he didn't have a weapon! He grimaced as he summoned his PSI, trying to figure out where to throw PK Fire or PK Freeze. He had to dodge around a lot to avoid Kumatora's PK Thunder, which didn't seem like a very good attack considering it didn't even hit the robot.

What was it even called? Claus made a face as he threw a PK Freeze at the bot's feet.

Duster threw a couple of the wall staples to allow Boney a chance to get up, as the robot kept trying to attack the dog. Claus followed up the staples with a PK Fire and dodged a bolt from Kumatora's PK Thunder. "Can you be a little more careful with that?" Claus yelled out.

"Hey, I can't control where PK Thunder lands!" She yelled back, swinging around to punch the robot. Kumatora winced at her fist hit the robot's chaise and caused her to pull back from the robot.

Boney yelped as the dog dodged one of the bolts as well. Kumatora rolled her eyes and called out to Claus. "Hey, need a weapon?? Use that weird yo-yo over there!" She pointed at a broken console, a yo-yo dangling out from inside. Judging from the blackened metal, it cleared had been destroyed by the PK Thunder.

He dashed forward, reaching forward and grabbing the yo-yo from the wreckage. Lucas and him used to play with these when they were tiny and young and innocent, so it wasn't that hard to get the hang of it again. It was much harder to get a hold of how to use it in battle.

Claus tried charging a PK Fire through the yo-yo, which made it look like a flaming chain ball. It swung around and skimmed across the back of the robot. It gave another tinny screech as it spun around to look at him. "Don't touch Master Porky's precious treasure!" She thrusted a drill at him, which barely missed hitting him right in the face.

If he wasn't fighting for his life, he would've wondered about that mention of someone named Porky. A pig themed name for someone undoubtedly related to the pigmasks--interesting. But as it was, he was currently far more interested in not letting the robot maid drill his head off.

Behind her, Duster grabbed the splintered remains of Claus' Good Bokken and rammed it into the bot's neck--or more precisely, into the space between the next and torso chaise. She shrieked and sparked as Duster immediately sped back and away from the robot. Jerkily, she turned to attack Duster again but Kumatora and Claus both raised their hands, calling up a combined PK Freeze and unleashing it on her.

She froze right up.

Claus threw the yo-yo forward as Kumatora punched out. The two attacks broke through the robot maid and Kumatora paused and glanced down at the three pieces of the maid robot. "...Freeze and break seems like a pretty good way to take out enemies, huh?" Kumatora squinted at the remains.

Duster let out a tired laugh and leaned his chin on his hand. "It's fairly effective so I think it's understandable." They shared a wry laugh over that and Claus felt himself smile. It was so strange, to have their kind of awkward 'we're doing this to save that egg' thing change to a sort of friendship.

..At least, Claus hoped this was a friendship. He missed having friends who didn't stare at him in pity over what happened.

(What happened to Lucas.)

Kumatora made a face at the hot spring as she healed up Boney. "Too bad about the hot spring, though. We can't spend any more time in there. Because we're being chased and all." She huffed and turned away from the hot spring and started looking for the way out.

Claus followed suit, patting the walls before until he found a ladder hidden just beyond the broken shards of the machine the yo-yo had been in. "Hey, I found something here!" He called out to the others.

The other three joined him by the ladder and the humans eyeballed it before looking down at Boney, who whined at them. This...was a problem. And it was problem they didn't have a lot of time to think about, as they heard banging along the far wall, where the door they'd entered the room was.

Huffing to himself, Claus knelt down and hefted Boney into his arms. "You first, Kuma," He said, "I'll pass him up and then we'll follow!!" She nodded sharply and swept her way up the ladder. He winced as he heard the trap door above clatter as she punched it open but pushed himself up to the tip of his toes to pass Boney up."

Boney gave a pitiable whine as he was pulled up but they shushed him: He could whine at them for the rough treatment later, once they'd gotten away from the pigmasks.

(Hopefully, a voice muttered in his ear. Claus ignored it.)

Claus went up next and Duster followed on his heels. When they got up to the top, Claus and Kumatora exchanged looks and raised their hands, PK Fire β burning around them. They threw the PSI at the trapdoor, which scorched it and--to Claus' surprise--melted parts of the trapdoor's seams together, sealing it.

Huh. That was useful. He brushed away nonexistent dust before turning around to his friends. Claus hadn't noticed before, but the other two had removed their pigmasks uniforms at some point. Shrugging to himself, Claus nodded towards the stairs above them. "We're almost to the top and we still haven't found a way out. What do we do now?"

"Keep going?" Kumatora sighed. "It's not like we have much other choice here. We did just seal the only way down that we know of."

The four of them exchanged looks and went up the rest of the staircases. They didn't bother destroying these ones, as they had melted the trapdoor. Of course, their intentions didn't really matter as something soared past them and smashed into the stairs just ahead of them.

Claus stopped as he stared at the broken staircase. "Now they're using our own tactics against us, huh?" Duster sighed into his hands in an 'I knew something like this would happen' way.

Kumatora grimaced at him and huffed in response but peered down at the groups of pigmasks below them. Fassad's yelling echoed up from where the trapdoor was, confirming he was stuck there--for now. Claus didn't want to place bets on how long that'd take for him to get through.

Now they just needed to figure out a way up the broken stairs.

Duster cleared his throat a raced a hand as they turned their attention on him. "I have an idea on how to get across," He said.

If they weren't being chased, Claus would take him up on that in an instant. But as it was, they had no time for him to explain, in case Fassad did get through the trap door. "We don't have time to talk about your idea." Kumatora echoed Claus's thoughts.

"I wasn't going to." Duster reached forward and pulled Claus into his arms and said, "Kumatora, hold onto me, okay?"

Claus struggled, baffled by the action even as Kumatora hesitantly wrapped her arms around Duster's torso. Even as Claus tried to puzzle out what Duster was trying to do, the thief flicked out his free hand and a...snake popped out.

He stared at it as it uncoiled and peered up at them. "Iss thiss my chance?" It rasped. "I won't let you down, Dusster, not when thiss iss my only job in the sstory!"

Story? What--?

There wasn't time to think about that as the thought was blown right out of his mind as the three of them swung across the gap and slammed onto the landing. Claus swayed, despite sitting, and peered down at the broken stairs. Boney was still down there.

"Wait, Boney--!" Claus yelped as Duster swung back across, picked up Boney with his free hand, and then swung back across. And while he was thankful for his best dog friend not being lost to the pigmasks, Claus didn't really know what to make of Duster's sudden burst in strength.

Claus cleared his throat. "O-okay, Duster, thanks for getting us out of there." He looked up, his lips pursed as he spotted the ladder a couple floors above that would lead to the file few floors. They didn’t have much time left to escape and well--At this rate?

They would be stuck, just like Duster had said would happen.

As he thought this, Duster nodded at Claus with a grateful smile. They continued rushing up to the next ladder. Thankfully they didn't have any more near chances of being blown up on staircases.

It was impossible to know why they had done it the first time or why they didn't try again, but Claus was thankful for whatever made them decide to not do it another time. Either way, they eventually found themselves in front of the marble white ladders.

Kumatora went up first nad helped heft Boney up before Duster and Claus followed her. The first of the last four levels was fairly empty, with only the sound of crackling electricity to accompany the melancholy blue walls. That and the cool air made Claus shiver: Thunder Tower sucked. They should've just left out the front door, made something up instead of going further in.

This was a mistake.

Claus let out a breath of air as they continued up the next ladder. The next floor was just as empty as the last, but it was warmer. Not by much, but it was nice to feel less like an ice cube. They followed the next ladder back up and then finally found something new--a couple of pigmasks in black uniforms, who were making faces at each other as they tilted their masks up.

"Hi there!" Kumatora chirped, smiling wide and hard. "You guys are kind of in the way!"

That smile was terrifying, Claus mused to himself as he shifted in place with the yo-yo in hand. The two pigmasks dropped their masks and brandished their strange ray gun things. Duster swung out with his staples and caught their feet, stapling them down to the ground. One of the two tripped over their feet and smacked their mask into the ground. The other struggled to get their feet up but Claus lashed out with his yo-yo and smacked the second in the face.

Kumatora jumped and then landed with one foot on the first pigmask. They oofed loudly as she also released a PK Fire at the pigmask's back and bounced away to kick the second pigmask in the face. Claus followed up her attacks with his own yo-yo attacks.

The two pigmasks groaned as they finally collapsed and surrendered to the four of them after Boney tackled them to the ground. Boney slobbered on Claus' hands as Kumatora quickly healed the four of them. Then they continued onwards--to the final floor of the Thunder Tower.

"What do we do now?" Claus groaned as he looked around the final floor. Just as Duster had theorized they had found no way out of the tower.

Duster pointed up, leaning on the nearest wall. "We find the way to that ladder and try to find another way down?"

Claus stared at it even as Kumatora pumped her fist. "Nice! I might be able to pull off that trick Ionia was trying to teach me the other day, even, so we could just jump down." She adjusted her gloves as she began walking towards the ladder.

He was about to yell--because who thought jumping off a tower was a good idea?--when the strange yellow contraption below the ladder lit up with crackling lightning. Kumatora immediately rolled away with a sharp cry as something came crawling out of an open hatch.

"Yeah, okay, this seems like a great idea." Claus deadpanned as he started spinning the yo-yo. Time to try not to get killed by the robot thing ahead of them.

Kumatora rolled out of the way of the first strike and pumped a PK Freeze into the robot's face. "It's called Mr. Genetor, apparently--Also, throw down ice attacks, Claus!" Her hands crackled as ice and frost dropped from her hands.

Ice attacks? Claus furrowed his brow before he started pushing the PK Freeze through the yo-yo. A couple of ice spikes flew out of the yo-yo and into the robot. Mr. Genetor shrieked and struggled against the ice spikes, clawing at them with the metallic hands.

On the other side of them, Duster threw his wall staples again before he tried a kick. Claus winced as Duster cried out and backed off from Mr. Genetor, shuddering from whatever had happened. "Duster!" Kumatora cried out as she summoned a healing PSI.

"I'm okay!" He yelled back and cringed. Claus grabbed him and pulled him back towards Boney, who whimpered and pressed down towards the floor.

Claus made a face as he eyeballed at the burns along Duster's pants. "Don't step on that until we beat Mr. Genetor, okay? Boney, can you knock people down if they try to get up the ladder?" Claus glanced up at the dog.

Boney barked and backed away, sitting down by the ladder. Duster goraned, unhappy about not fighting. Claus could hardly blame him as he started feeling the burn of PP loss in his arms. Trying to finish off this guy would take everything they had and Claus couldn't help but think that they were going to get caught here.

(Or killed.)

But they continued their barrage of ice attacks, over and over, as the robotic being started frosting over and cracking as it moved its joints. Claus clenched his hands on his yo-yo--what was it even called again?-- and threw his last PK Freeze as he felt the last of his PP drain away. At the same time, he felt his legs half collapse beneath him and crumbled to the floor.

Kumatora cursed from where she was throwing her own PK Freezes ahead of him and dodged back, just in front of Claus. "Got any ideas?" She called over her shoulder as she prepped another attack.

"N-no!" He called out with a sharp hiss. "I'm out of PP--can't you see how much HP it has left??"

She shook her head. "I can see what its name is and its weaknesses--but HP isn't something I can see!" Kumatora grimaced as she dodged to the side to avoid a thunder bolt--perhaps a PK Thunder. Claus wondered where that had come from.

Was it Mr. Genetor--?

Claus grimaced as another PK Thunder crashed near him. "I think he's almost down!" Kumatora yelled back as she prepared something he hadn't seen before. To be more specific, it was clearly meant to be a PK Freeze, but the amount of chilled air Claus could feel...this wasn't an α level or a β level. This was something else entirely.

He'd ask later, when things were calm--but that wasn't for some time yet as Kumatora unleashed her PK Freeze--and it froze everything in its path. Claus watched as the floor was frozen and frosted--as was Mr. Genetor itself.

The sudden silence and lose of the crackling electricity was jarring. It left Claus wondering what has going to happen next--and then machinery whirled and the yellow contraption that Mr. Genetor had been poking out of opened up, revealing the ladder they'd been looking at before Mr. Genetor had revealed himself. Claus groaned into his hands even as Kumatora knelt down next to Duster.

He turned around and raised a hand. "So are we going to trap ourselves on the roof?" Claus deadpanned.

"I've still got just enough PP that I might be able to use that PSI trick I mentioned earlier." Kumatora helped Duster to his feet before she led him to the ladder. She waited for him to get up to the top before she turned and gestured to Boney.

Claus grimaced at how they had to pull Boney up to the top but necessary evils and all that. He grimaced a second time as he heard Fassad's voice echo from somewhere down below. "Can we hurry it up a little?" He called up to Kumatora and Duster. "We've got Fassad catching up to us!"

Kumatora made a face down at him as she helped shuffle Boney the rest of the way up. "We're just waiting on you now, kid!"

He stuck his tongue out at her on impulse before he followed her up the ladder. The other three were just out of sight wind began tugging at his red hair. He squinted at them, his eyes watering because of said wind.

"Is there anything we need to do for this trick of yours, Kumatora?" Duster asked anxiously.

She shook her head. "Nope! I got this. Just let me concentrate..." Kumatora closed her eyes, seemingly focusing very hard on something. Likely her dwindling PSI; considering Claus was all out, she was probably near empty as well.

Boney whined and then began growling, his floppy ears twisted back. Claus spun around to see what he was growling at and hissed: Fassad had caught up, somehow, despite all their attempts to get keep the guy as far down as they could manage. Sure, he'd heard him earlier, but how the hell had he managed to get up that ladder so quickly when Claus knew he had been a couple floors down just before Claus himself climbed up?

Like he could Dragon damned teleport or something.

"You won't be getting away this time, you brats." Fassad was smiling, wide and darkly. He stepped closer, pausing only to snack on the banana in his hand--which immediately left Claus baffled. Was he trying to be threatening?

Claus grimaced as he tossed the banana slip to the side and began to monologue. He only paid half attention to it, too busy peering at Kumatora and waiting for her signal. She'd signal them, wouldn't she, when she was ready? There was no reason for her not to, of course, but Claus was just falling into Duster's loop of anxiety.

"--And now I'll finally finish you off. We'll say it was just an accident and they won't even question it." Fassad laughed as he stepped forward. "No one will even miss any of you three--oh, four, that's right. I forgot that stupid mutt was here."

He scowled at the mention of Boney being a 'stupid mutt.' That wasn't okay as far as he was concerned and he forgot any anxiety he had. Until of course, an alarm suddenly sounded. It wasn't the same as the intruder alarm they had tripped earlier--he could hear a voice saying something, echoing from someone down below.

Fassad smiled. "It seems the Tower is going to go out--because someone destroyed Mr. Genetor."

Oh, crap.

"And there's my ride." Fassad chuckled as a flying vehicle approached, engines revving as it closed in on them. A side door opened as if to invite Fassad in and he turned around, clearly intending to head inside.

It was just that one thing they all forgot about--which was the banana peel laying right in between Fassad and the flying vehicle. Claus barely spotted it before the merchant's foot hit the peel. Said foot slipped and the four watched in stunned silence as Fassad went flying off the top of the tower and disappeared over the edge.

Claus took a couple steps forward, to see if Fassad had grabbed something to be safe but Kumatora grabbed his arm. "Sorry, I don't got enough PP!" She pointed at the vehicle, which was starting to get ready to move away. "Duster, can you ask that weird snake thing you've got for help here?"

Duster nodded and convinced Rope Snake out of where he was hidden in Duster's sleeve and he swung the stretchy snake out towards the boarding ram. Rope Snake's jaws snapped closed on the edge and Duster wrapped his arm around Kumatora's waist and the latter grabbed Claus more tightly. Boney's jaws snapped around Claus' pants--not his leg, thankfully--and the four of them were lifted off of the roof of the tower as the vehicle pulled away.

He heard Duster chanting 'oh dear, oh dear' from above him. Kumatora was shaking slightly as he heard her chanting something too, though he didn't understand what she was saying at all. Claus twisted his gaze up towards the landing ram and the entry way there. And also the person standing there, watching them.

Their face was shielded from sight by the strange gold helm they wore. They also wore the same clothes Claus had been forced to wear earlier; the Commander's clothes.

This was the pigmasks' commander? He seemed so...small. And strangely familiar, Claus thought as he heard something snap. That something was apparently more Rope Snake's jaw as Claus suddenly felt weightless, his hands no longer clinging to Kumatora.

In fact, Claus realized the reason he was weightless and no longer holding onto his friend was because he was falling. Away from the vehicle that zipped away above him. Claus smiled and it twisted as he felt his hair whip around his face. Boney's jaws were still tight on his pants and at least he had one of the others with him.

His gaze wavered and darkened at the edges and Claus closed his eyes, surrendering to the darkness that had threatened him. If he was going to die, he'd rather not feel it.

* * *

The smell of sunflowers wafted into his nose as Claus opened his eyes once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's some pacing issues, though i and laura did our best to fix those we could find. if you find any more errors or anything, feel free to mention it in a comment!
> 
> i'm really looking forward to the next chapter!
> 
> sorry, no headcanon today :' (


	7. magicant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta`d by my gf, Laura~ (@dolfabre)
> 
> i was actually gonna post this last night after I finished kh3 but that was almost midnight and I had only slept for like. a hour since the game came out so I decided to go sleep. it's here now tho!!

The sky was a brilliant blue with hues of lilac along the horizon. Around him was an endless sea of sunflowers, gold as far as the eye could see.

He knew this place.

Claus had been here every few nights, to talk to the figment of his brother. The dream Lucas, whom he relied on to keep himself sane. There was no way, in any world, that Claus would not recognize this place.

But that thought made his faint smile twist because he knew the last time he had been here was when dream Lucas had just vanished like he had never been. And...Claus can't remember what happened before he woke up. What had he been doing again? For some reason he was thinking of Duster, and Kumatora, but he...hadn't seen them in a while, right?

If he was thinking of them, maybe he had seen them then? Claus sighed and rubbed his head. He's definitely forgetting something important yet he can't pinpoint what it was. Probably had something to do with however he had ended up here.

For now, he decided, he should explore. Claus straightened and peered over the tall stocks of the sunflowers, trying to see something other than the blue, blue sky and the gold sea of flowers. There didn't seem to be anything that was taller than the sunflowers and the sky was clear and empty, without a single cloud in sight. Claus wondered if there was anything to find, besides the sunflowers.

...No, he was sure there should be. He didn't know why he thought there should be something there, just that he did. Claus headed back into the sunflowers, ducking down under the blooms of the sunflowers to peer at their rooting.

He didn't find anything, just spent time aimlessly wandering through the sunflowers. As time went on, he eventually found himself at the cliff side where Lucas had vanished like mist in the sun. He stared at the spot before sitting down at the edge, tired from his wandering.

A faint wind blew over him and he closed his eyes as his hair flickering around his face. It was nice and calming, even if Claus didn't feel like he should be so calm. There could be any reason for that yet Claus didn't really feel like going over every reason why he couldn't be feeling the way he did right now.

"Would you like a sunflower for your thoughts?" A voice asked him teasingly from behind.

Claus jolted and spun around, his arms flailing as he almost knocked himself off the cliff. Dainty hands grabbed his hands and pulled him back up, steadying him as he tried to catch his breath. Could you blame him? There shouldn't be anyone else here, besides him (and Lucas).

Once he calmed down, he looked up to see the person who had both scared him and saved him--and then almost went into another panic attack at the sight of a familiar red dress and pretty brown hair. In response, she rubbed his back, waiting for him to learn how to breathe again.

"Mom?" He whispered through his gasping breaths.

She smiled sorrowfully at him and pulled him into a hug. "Hello, Claus," Hinawa said, "It's been quite a few years, hasn't it?"

Claus sobbed and clung to her frame, unashamed of his breakdown. Who wouldn't break down into tears at the sight of their dead mother? Though it did bring up the question of whether or not he was alive...

As if to assuage his fears, Hinawa brushed his bangs out of his face. "Don't worry, Claus, you're alright. You're just...asleep, right now, until you find what you need to find to leave."

"Find what I need to leave?" Claus frowned. He had thought he needed to find something earlier. That something must've been what he needed if he wanted to leave. Which...begged the question of whether or not he wanted to leave. "Is Lucas here?" He blurted.

(If he was, Claus didn't want to leave then.)

Hinawa shook her head, as her gaze grew distant and sad. "No, he's...not here. Hopefully, he won't be here for a long time yet."

Claus frowned unhappily but let it go. If he could only understand what his mother meant...but he'd just have to be happy that he could spend time with his mother. Even if said time was spent with her in a dream. That had never stopped him with Lucas.

"I have no idea where to start." Claus confessed to his mother as she settled down next to him.

She hummed. "Well, I'm sure with two of us we could find it. Where would you like to start?" Hinawa looked down at him fondly.

He glanced around quickly, as if to confirm where he was and that nothing had changed--which it hadn't, not in the immediate area. Below, the fathomless land was suddenly more yellow sunflowers. Claus wondered if it had something to do with his mother being there now, but he put the thought aside.

Instead, he looked behind himself towards the distant horizon. There, the cloudless sky was broken by dark clouds clinging to the sky, making if a cool gray instead of the clear sky blue. The clouds stubbornly refused to move as he watched and Claus nodded to himself.

That was where he was supposed to go.

"Found it?" Hinawa asked, her gaze tracking his towards that dark horizon.

Claus nodded. "Yeah...I think I did?" Maybe; he at least found the place he was certain he could find what he was looking for at. Now the problem was just how far away it was from him and Hinawa.

He glanced up at her and asked shyly; "Will you come with me?"

Hinawa placed a hand on his hand before she stood up and offered that same hand to him. "OF course I will. I'll always be there to watch over you and Lucas." She nodded forward, waiting for him to take her hand and take the lead.

Feeling like a little kid again, Claus took her hand and began the long trek across the sunflower ocean towards the gray sky. Like the rest of the sunflower field, there wasn't much in the way between his cliff side and their target area.

It still felt normal for this place to look like that--what didn't seem normal was the dark skies ahead of them. That was the unnatural land; something that shouldn't be the way it was. He didn't like it being like that at all.

Once they arrived at the border between what looked like a wasteland and the sunflower ocean, Claus doubted himself. What could be other there, besides dust and rocks and sorrow? He looked up at his mom, who just peered into the wasteland with a strange look on her face. What was she thinking, he wondered.

"Shall we continue?" Hinawa asked, looking down at Claus, who squinted back and then sighed. Right, okay. Thing he needed to wake up... what could that even be, out there?

Claus nodded hesitantly to his mother's question before letting her hand go and continue forward into the wasteland. He peered into the shadows of the wasteland, trying to spot...something, anything at all. All there was to see so far were rocks and dust, just like he had thought earlier.

Maybe there were some caves for him to explore? Claus pursed his lips before turning to look up at Hinawa. His mother watched the distant horizon with a dark frown. She didn't seem to notice he was watching her, as focused as she was on the horizon. 

He sighed. "Can we look for some caves? Maybe it's there," Claus said.

"Cave entrances should be somewhere along the mountains." Hinawa noted, pointing out towards the mountain range that framed the horizon she had been watching earlier. "Perhaps we should begin our search there, then?"

Claus smiled at her. "Yeah that sounds right." Claus turned towards the mountain range as well and the duo made their way towards to the range.

 

The first cave system they came across glowed from within, with strange crystals growing from the cave's ceiling and walls. They were all sorts of colors, like green and blue and teal. Curiously, there wasn't any reds or pinks among the colors but that was fine. Red would probably just make him nervous.

As they descended further into the cave system, Claus flinched at strange sounds echoing from deep inside. He peered into the darkness, trying to see if he could spot something or anything in the darkness. Claus furrowed his brow as he spotted something crunching on some of the crystals in a far corner. "Mom..." He whispered.

Hinawa touched his shoulder gently. "It's okay. Whatever it is, we can work together."

This boosted Claus' confidence and he took a deep breath, stepping closer to the thing. As if responding to the approach, it stopped chewing on the crystal and swung its head around to look directly at him. He grimaced as he finally got a good look at the thing: It was clearly a type of chimera, though he did wonder about whether or not they were supposed to be here.

It was the first chimera he'd seen here. It was also evidently hostile as it lashed out at them, strange crystalline claws almost tearing across Claus' wrist. The red haired boy flinched and backed away, holding his arm close to his chest. Okay, okay. Battle time, he supposed as he reached for a yo-yo that wasn't there.

"...Um, Mom. I don't have a weapon." Claus hissed as he swiftly dodged back from the chimera's second swipe.

Hinawa giggled softly. "Claus, did you forget about your PSI abilities?" She raised a hand, murmured something, and Claus felt...tougher, somehow. Like he could take a direct hit from the chimera and not even feel a twinge of pain.

But the mention of his PSI abilities reminds Claus to summon forth his own attacks, dropping a PK Thunder for the first time on the chimera's left head. Its right head shrieked in pain and sorrow as the left head went limp and Claus grimaced. He hated when they went still like that.

Claus felt fire and ice at the tips of his fingers as his mother seemed to dance around the temporary battle field. With her support and his attacks, they eventually managed to take down the two headed crystal chimera. It shuddered and collapsed, vanishing into dust.

He shook himself and looked over at his mother, who didn't look winded at all. It would be a lie to say he didn't feel at all jealous of that: Not having to catch his breath after a fight would be nice. Actually it was a little strange that she didn't need to...

With a quick shake of his head, Claus pushed that thought away. It didn't need thinking about it as he returned to looking around the cavern. "There's nothing else here." He noted with a disappointed sigh.

"There's a few more caverns, I'm sure, we can explore." Hinawa reassured him.

That didn't really help but Claus forced himself to smile at his mother. He was beginning to worry about how long he spent here: What if he stayed here for months and months passed in the waking world? Claus didn't want to wake up to a world that had moved on.

It'd hit him as hard as everyone moving on from Lucas' death likely would. Because he knew with how everyone was right now, they wouldn't remember him for long. Claus would just fade into a bad memory that they didn't want to remember.

Claus sighed. Right, that was depressing. It was better to not to focus on those pessimistic thoughts, right? He should....focus on the present. On waking up and getting back to the others, and to see his father. That was probably the better way to go about this, right?

Beside him, Hinawa turned around to the way they'd come from and led their way back out of the caverns. As they headed back, Claus picked up the crystals along the way and hid them in his clothes. That way he could light their way in case the other caves aren't lit up the same way.

He stopped outside the caves, squinting at the faint light outside them. It was lighter outside than it was in the dark grays of the caverns, with their crystals. The outside was a light gray and reddish brown and Claus wondered how it was better outside than inside the caverns.

Squinting, Claus spotted dead plants curled around rocks. He grimaced as he realized they were the sprouts of sunflowers. Did that mean this area had on been equally covered with sunflowers before...whatever had happened turned it into a wasteland? That was a little sad, really.

"...Mom," Claus said, "What even is this place?"

Hinawa let out a sharp breath. "I was wondering when you were going to ask. This place is called Magicant." She peered towards the nearest cliffs, her eyebrows raised as she seemed to see something Claus couldn't.

He squinted harder towards the spot but couldn't see anything--so he looked away, trying to avoid giving himself a headache. "What's a magicant?" Claus asked, his lips pulled into a sharp frown. He's literally never heard of something like that before.

"It is a place that belongs to one's person. Like one's mind or body--A magicant can belong to one person. Unlike the mind or body, though, it can be...visited by those close to them, should they have the ability." Hinawa clasped her hands in front of her, continuing to watch the spot ahead of her.

Claus watched her and then said, "Are you...visiting mine?"

Hinawa sighed. "I am visiting both you and Lucas' magicants, Claus. Both of you." She look as sad as she did when he first ran into her, on that cliff side edge.

"Is that why this place is a wasteland? Because Lucas is..." Dead? He looked down at his feet before squeezing his eyes closed.

Her expression twisted. "Claus...About Lucas...." But her voice was drowned out by the sound of a roar. A roar that haunted Claus' dreams, as if summoned by the mention of Lucas in this dry wasteland of a magicant.

Claus spun around, his hands raised with PSI burning under his skin. He sought out the source but it was never to be seen, just like his mother. Because Hinawa had disappeared the same moment the roar had echoed over the land.

He felt his hear thump hysterically in his chest because suddenly being alone, out of quite literally nowhere, terrified him. Rightfully so, he wondered for a moment before lowering his hands. What was he supposed to do here now? He could...still look for the way out but he didn't want to abandon his mother.

Perhaps both?

Yet he felt like he should focus on his mother first. Find her, make sure she was safe, and then continue the search. Claus...didn't know what to do so he sat down and decided to think first. Thinking was good right? That was--something he always used to not do. Something Lucas had said he needed to do more, when they were kids.

(He'd used to tell Lucas that he thought too much--but Lucas running off like he had back then? That was something that was more like Claus to do. To run head first into danger without thinking.)

Claus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No matter what he does, he won't wake up unless he finds the thing he needs to wake up. Which meant he was free to find his own way--to find his mother and then find the thing he was supposed to find. Finding his mother was the first priority and then finding the object he needed to wake up with.

He nodded to himself and stood up and walked across the plain, looking towards the mountain range. Hinawa had been staring at that spot before, so maybe that was where she was? But why she had left for there at the sound of that roar, Claus might never know.

Not unless he asks her himself.

Shaking his head, Claus jogged up the paths towards the mountain range. Along the way, he spotted more of the same: Wilting plants, scattered rocks, and dry earth. None of it was any different and once more, Claus realized he preferred the sunflower sea to this awful wasteland.

Claus paused as he heard another roar and turned to follow it. It was still somewhere within the mountain range so he didn't turn away from it. Instead he headed further in, searching for the source. The drago that had destroyed his family's lives and paved the way for the pigmasks to take over the Tazmily.

He stopped as he heard the roar nearly on top of him and he turned towards it--towards a dark cavern. As he entered it, he knew that this wasn't like the one he had been before. For one, there were no glowing crystals growing from the walls and for another there was no sign of anything alive inside.

In fairness, the cavern was too dark to actually see anything moving about. Claus shifted through his pockets to pull out the glowing crystals he'd scooped up earlier and found that they were thankfully still glowing. He sighed in relief and stuffed the other crystals away while he raised a green crystal aloft to light her way.

The first thing he spotted was a well-worn path that seemed to wide down further into the caverns. Claus made a face before he began following the path further in, hoping that maybe if he got rid of the source of the roaring he'd find his mother again. That'd work, wouldn't it?

Claus puffed and clenched his hand as another roar echoed around him. It had to be here, Claus thought as he stepped into a massive opening. He stood at the top of a cliff that was above a much larger clearing in the center of the cavern. Unfortunately, the crystal's light didn't show much below him and Claus started looking around for a path down.

Careful not to alert the drago hiding there, Claus cupped his hand over the crystal so that it would still light his way but kept it from being seen. He blinked at the farthest wall of the cavern and sighed. Somehow the drago wasn't even there, despite how the previous roars had drawn his attention to this spot.

He scowled and spun around, ears focused on listening to the roar. When it finally sounded again, it was far away, like it was traveling down into the cavern from outside. Claus' scowl twisted and he clenched his hands, an old familiar fury roaring up inside him, just like the roar he could hear echoing outside. That familiar fury from their deaths that he'd forgotten he still had.

How could he ever forget that this was the drago that had killed them? Why shouldn't he hate it, for destroying his family?

Claus' shoulders shook with his anger and stormed back up the cavern, almost forgetting to keep the crystal held up to light his way. He stopped at the mouth of the cavern and watched as the crystal's light died. It seemed the sunlight killed the crystal.

Tossing the crystal away, Claus jogged further through the mountains, constantly keeping an ear out for roars. Whenever he heard one he followed it until he was stuck in a dead end and had to turn around again. He scowled furiously after every failure.

After what felt like the millionth time, Claus punched a rock with all the anger that had started burning under her skin. It was so, so frustrating that he couldn't find the drago or his mother or the stupid thing he was supposed to find. What was he meant to do with no way forward?

Leaning against a rock cliff wall, Claus slid down it. He... kind of wanted to give up, now. With no way forward, no way out, there was nothing Claus could do.

He pressed his hands against his churning stomach. Claus felt sick, like he was going to be sick and he didn't know what to do about it. This was so tiring, Claus decided. He closed his eyes and decided then: I'm going to nap now. It was fine if he rested for a little bit, right? Everyone would understand, right?

Claus closed his eyes and curled up against the spot he'd chosen. He'd just rest for a few minutes....he'd be fine...

He dozed off.

His dreams were of nothing in particular, nothing but darkness. Probably because he was already technically asleep. It was a little hard to dream within a dream, as far as he was aware. It would be a lie to say he hadn't wished that his dream-dream would have a clue.

Guess that was too much to ask for.

Claus woke up. The sky was a dark gray now, like a stormy sky before sunset. Had it really been that long? The sun had been at the highest point in the sky before his nap. He rubbed his forehead in pain before he pushed himself to his feet.

Okay. Back to the grind of trying to figure out what was next. He flinched at the sound of the drago roar, which...was just a grating as always. His fury still roared beneath his skin but it seemed different now. Tired, like him.

He closed his eyes again before shaking his head and heading deeper into the mountain range. For a while, it all looked like the same unfamiliar landscape, puck marked from years of damage. It was when he entered a familiar ravine that Claus found himself stopping in place.

This place...It was the way to their grandfather's place. The way that led to where they had both died.

Claus' heart thumped heard in his chest. This place couldn't be the same one, considering this was that Magicant place. He clenched his hand around the last remaining crystal in his pocket, peering into the suddenly massive shadows.

It was then that he noticed that with every step he took, the light around him seem to be changing too. It took on an almost purple glow and a fog seemed to slowly rise around his feet. Even if it was harmless it still frightened him. This was not natural lighting.

As if to punctuate this thought, the purple lighting grew to a dark purple and the fog grew thicker. A roar echoed around him, as if the drago was right next to him. Something large and dark zipped through the fog, just out if sight, and Claus flinched.

He clenched his hands again and wished he had a weapon.

Taking a deep breath, Claus walked further into the fog. He would just have to have faith in himself. Just like how his mother had told him to earlier. Claus let out a deep breath and ran through the fog, his PSI burning under his skin.

He finally stopped at the mouth of a much larger clearing. There, he would probably battle the drago. It was a pretty big area and if past experience was anything to go by, this was a perfect battle zone.

Claus stepped out into the clearing. AS if in response, a massive dark figure stepped out of the darkness. It tilted its head at him before its jaws opened up and it roared at him. Metal glinted through the darkness and fog. Claus raised his hands and summoned his psi.

Each of the drago's steps shook the ground beneath Claus' feet. Claus himself summoned a PK Fire and threw it at the drago's face. It shrieked and stepped back, shaking the ground again. He stumbled with the shaking and grimaced.

How was he supposed to fight with only his PSI while the drago was making the ground shake beneath him?

The drago spun around, nearly swiping Claus with its tail. He gasped and threw out a PK Thunder, the spell nearly hitting it. Unfortunately it missed by inches and left a small crater in the ground.

He kicked out a leg and missed the drago's metallic legs. Thankfully, really, because Claus didn't want to hurt himself on the thing. Rolling away from the following stomps from the drago, Claus fired a PK Freeze into its open jaws.

Claus grimaced as he found himself falling into the crater from the kick back of the PSI spell. The drago stomped down towards him, metal parts rattling with every step it made. Summoning as much PSI as he could, he fired a powerful PK Fire spell--the level of which he couldn't quite think of--right into its face.

The flames scored across the side of its face and thankfully it seemed to actually hurt it as it backed away with a roar. He grimaced as his head began to hurt--not from the loss of PP but just from the roars roiling through his head. Ignoring the pain, he summoned another PK Thunder and began backing away from the drago as it rolled around, shaking from the thunder that Claus' PSI attack had caused.

He was glad he was finally doing damage but he almost wondered if it mattered. If he only caused damage and couldn't finish it off before he lost all his PP, what was the point? Claus grimaced and raised his hands, aiming a PK Freeze at the beast's legs. It stumbled back and forth as the attack froze its skin and metal before it finally tripped and slammed chin first on the ground.

Claus winced as the ground shook beneath him. He rolled with the shaking until it stopped and the drago began struggling to get back up. If there was any time he could throw a barrage of attacks, now was the time. Claus closed his eyes and thought about his options and decided to use something he hadn't actually used much since he first got PSI: PK Love.

The drago didn't seem to appreciate the attack as he dropped it on its head. Claus grimaced and looked around for a vantage point away from the drago as it began to pull itself up. If he could just get it down than, maybe, maybe he could find his mother again and they could find the thing he needed...he needed to wake up.

(He'd almost forgotten about that.)

He winced as the drago slammed its tail into the boulder Claus had claimed as his perch. He grimaced at his world rocked and he raised his hand, firing a PK Love and another PK Thunder. The drago shrieked in his face and Claus clenched his hands over his ears, trying not to let the pain in his head turn into a headache.

Claus let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as the drago stopped shrieking. He leaned over the boulder to eyeball the drago, which was shuddering with exertion. While Claus was starting to get tired, the drago was somehow falling apart. Which was strange, because did his attacks really do that much damage? Letting out a sharp breath, Claus raised his hand and dropped a PK Thunder on the drago's head.

It was as if he had hit pause. The drago stopped moving for what felt like a good minute before it shuddered again and crumbled to the ground, like a broken doll. Claus slowly started climbing down the boulder, as he watched the drago die. Because that was the only thing he could think of for what was going on.

Shaking his hands, he reached forward and touched the drago. Its scales felt cold to the touch. Beneath his fingers the form of the drago began to melt away like it was never there. Claus grimaced as he pulled his hands away, the drago's melted form disappearing into the fog. He stood up and looked around, wondering what he was supposed to do now.

The drago was dead. He was lost. And his mother was still missing.

He didn't know what to do now. Claus felt deeply bewildered, as he turned away from the new fog. The only choice he had now was to find his mother and his way to wake up.

Claus wandered. The fog made it hard to see anything around him. With the destruction of the landscape, it was even harder to find the path he'd taken to get there to begin with. Eventually he stopped to sit down a little while, intent on resting despite what he was currently going through.

(Maybe not going through would be a better way to put it? He didn’t know for sure. This Magicant…might be driving him a little bit crazy.)

It didn’t take a long time to find a place to sit. It was…a little bit relieving to be able to sit after the fight he’d just had. That drago hadn’t been playing around--which made sense, considering what it had done. At least his PP was going back up and he didn’t have to worry about running out of it should something else pop out of the fog to fight him.

And then he heard someone's voice calling out and sobbing through the fog. Claus frowned, his brow furrowed as he stood up again from where he had been sitting. The sobbing echoed from somewhere to his left.

He jogged in that direction and grimaced as he smelt something like iron. Through the fog, he spotted a pool of something that he was careful not to step in and stopped as he spotted the dark sobbing figure. They were laying in the pool, clutching at their shoulder in what was clearly pain.

"...Hey, hey, what can I do?" Claus reached out, wishing not for the first time that he could heal. Why couldn't he heal? Kumatora could and he felt betrayed by his own inability to heal. Why was that one of the few things he couldn't do?

The figure gasped at his voice and let go of their arm, reaching out. "Claus?" The figure whimpered and the fog began to clear. Blond hair marred by browning blood was the first thing he saw but it was enough to make Claus' heart soar right up into his throat.

Claus sobbed. "Lucas."

His twin brother stared up at him with his one good eye, the other side of his face a mess of blood and flesh. Blood dripped down from Lucas' right arm--or where it had once been. All in all, he looked terrible and like he was dying.

He pressed one hand against the arm and held Lucas' free hand desperately. "You're going to be okay." Claus begged his brother. "You're going to be okay, I'm here, okay? I'm not going to leave you alone ever again." Please don't leave me again.

Lucas shuddered and sobbed in pain. Why can't Claus heal? His brother is dying (again) in his arms and he can't even ease the pain. Why was he so useless.

A war, hand touched his shoulder but Claus couldn't bring himself to look up as another hand wrapped around him to brush Lucas' ruined right cheek. "Oh, Claus." His mother's voice breathed in his ear. "You're not useless. Here, let me show you how to do this again...don't forget, okay?"

Hot green-yellow light came from Hinawa's hand cupping Lucas' face and she slide it down. The damage slowly repaired itself and while scars remained as a reminder of the damage, Lucas was no longer bleeding from his face. With her hand still glowing, she laid it over Claus' hand on the ruined arm.

"Try it." Hinawa whispered.

Claus screwed up his face in a grimace and tried. He pushed and pulled at his own PSI, trying to tell what his mother had done--and a familiar sensation overcame him. Of course, he'd used this before. Once, by accident, in Thunder Tower.

**_Claus learned PK Cure!_ **

The wound on Lucas' arm stitched itself back together. While he still had no more arm there, he at least still was no longer bleeding out from his arm. Claus let out a sobbing sigh, relieved at the sight. Lucas was alright. Lucas was alive--

Lucas vanished from Claus' arms. Claus let out a noise that would've been a scream if he had the energy to do so. His shoulders shook with a horrified sob as he felt his mother's arms wrap around his shoulders.

"Claus, it's okay. You found him. You can wake up now." Hinawa whispered. "You have to wake up now." Her arms pulled away as if to punctuate her point, but Claus didn't care.

His hands snapped up to grab hers, so that she wouldn't leave him. But her hands escaped his grasp and Claus snapped up to his feet, spinning around to call for his mother. But he was no longer in the ravine where Lucas had died.

Instead, he was back in the sea of sunflowers. The brilliant gold hurt his eyes but he ignored it as he saw his mother in the distance, slowly moving away from him. Claus rushed through the sunflowers, yelling wordlessly after her.

He hated being alone, he didn't want to be alone--

Claus didn't notice as Boney seemed to appear from nowhere, chasing him on his heels. He was too focused on following his mother, crying out for her with every other step he took. When she finally stopped, he could've cried from relief as he reached out with his hand to grab hers.

He missed and his feet slipped right out from underneath him. So he fell from the sea of sunflowers, his mother disappearing from sight. All he could see now was blue, blue, blue, black--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so like!! some people were asking about PK flash last chapter, so I had to avoid saying anything because of this chapter... basically, because Claus' abilities are more focused on fighting, I thought the 'unique' ability should be a healing type. So PK Cure!
> 
> PK Cure can basically heal about 50 points of damage. It can also on chance revive a KO`d party member and heal all status effects on the party. thaaat's pretty much it?


	8. the needles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta`d by my gf, laura! (@dolfabre)
> 
> whoof, we've hit the novel length last chapter and didn't even mention it! we've also hit the first needle--which means we're almost to the climax of the story.

Claus stared at the wooden ceiling above his head, only thinking of the brilliant blue that lingered in his head. It'd been....so long since he'd actually seen a sky that shade of blue. The skies above Tazmily had taken a slightly grayer hue since the arrival of the pigmasks. But...that was neither here nor there as Claus was a little more concerned about where he was and how he was alive.

He surged up into a sitting position, which seemed to scare the others in the room. Said others being his grandfather Alec and Wess, both of them clutching their chests at Claus' sudden awakening. Between them and Claus was Boney, the dog perking up with clear joy.

Gasping Claus pressed a hand to his own chest as he caught his breath. Once he did, Claus looked down at himself and noticed the bandages that littered his arms and legs. There were probably some on his torso, too, but he couldn't see them from under the white tank top he wore.

He looked back up. "How did I get here?" Claus asked, his voice scratchy. From what, he wasn't sure.

Wess spoke up first, hands clenched at his sides. "We found you half collapsed inside a hay pile--or at least I did." He graced Alec with a strange look then, as if the latter had done something strange to deserve such a look.

Alec sighed. "I told you, I had a dream Hinawa came to me and told me to put it there. There isn't much more to it than that."

"That doesn't answer why you decided to do it in the first place!" Wess groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked like he'd be agonizing over the reason why Alec had decided to do that for quite a while.

The answer seemed to be just a plain old shrug.

Claus shook his head. "That's--great, grandpa. But where are the others? I was with a couple others." Duster and Kumatora, the former being your grandson, Claus thought. Should he say something? ...No, he wouldn't. He still wasn't sure what Duster even remembered, though it was evident he remembered enough to answer to Duster.

He slowly pushed the covers back and tried to get up. Wess stood up and stopped him from leaving the bed. "Hey now, you shouldn't be leaving just yet." Wess scowled. "You literally just woke up and you need to rest longer."

"...no, I don't have time to rest right now. The others are missing and I need to find them." Claus pushed past Wess, intent to heading out of the ratty building. The older man immediately grabbed the back of his shirt. He jerked, trying to get out of Wess' grasp but stopped after the first couple of attempts.

Wess raised an eyebrow. "Rest. Even for an hour. I'm going to go check on the others here, alright, Alec?" Wess let Claus go as he explained to Alec where he was going now. Claus scowled to himself: So Wess was allowed to go but Claus wasn't? Yeah, that made a lot of sense.

Claus huffed and waited for the old man to leave. When Wess had disappeared, Claus stood back up from the bed that Wess had pushed him towards. "Sorry, grandpa, but I've got to go." Claus apologized.

Alec smiled sadly. "Would you stay if I told you not to?" He didn't wait for Claus to respond before continuing. "No, I don't think you would. You were always the type to run forward into danger without thinking."

He winced and looked away, feeling pained. Alec wasn't wrong that Claus had a strong tendency to dive into danger head first without thinking. It was one of Claus' fatal flaws but...the red head couldn't shake it off too easily. Not when he was currently in a position where that seemed kind of like a bad idea to do so.

Later, when everything was calm again. 

Claus gave Alec one sharp, sad smile before waving to Boney. Boney barked and bounced up to Claus' side and the two of them left Alec behind. He waved one last time before he left the room. Boney leapt ahead of him and lead the way out of the senior house.

He managed to sneak past Wess before the old man could find him and the duo began to make their way down the path towards the main roads. How he and Boney had made their way all the way to Tazmily, Claus had no idea but at least they'd ended up somewhere semi safe.

"Where do you think Kuma and Duster are?" Claus asked Boney.

Boney barked and wagged his tail before rushing forward. Claus winced before jogging after the dog. As he followed, he noticed that the dog was leading him towards a massive crowd of people huddled around something on the bridge. It crossed the river that lead out to the ocean his own home overlooked.

Claus slowed to a stop at the edge of the crowd as Boney barked at the people. Most of them paused and glanced over and Claus felt his nose wrinkle up on instinct. The group mainly consisted of people who had moved to Tazmily after the pigmasks' arrival and Claus didn't...much like most of them. They were pretty rude and aggressive and didn't seem to care much for the people who live on Tazmilly originally.

They were already giving Claus condescending looks, as usual. Claus scowled back and shoved past them. He wouldn't be surprised if the thing they were all gapping at was an injured Tazmily villager. The pricks were the type to do that.

While there was a person there, however, it wasn't a Tazmily villager. The person in question was the same strange person Claus had run into when he was going to Club Titiboo, tied up in ropes. They were soaked through and Claus reached forward to take off the bindings.

They shook their head and his attention was drawn to their mouth, which was gagged. He grimaced and pulled that off first.

Almost as soon as the gag was off, they were talking. "Why, thank you dear~," They said cheerfully, "It's lovely to see you again. Where am I, may I ask?" They started looking at the crowd excitedly, clearly trying to figure out where they were.

Claus tilted his head. "Uh, Tazmily?" Where else would they be, he wondered as the crowd began to disperse, muttering about their boredom.

"Oh my~ I ended up all the way down here? Dear me, that was quite a trip." They tilted their head, looking delighted. Claus wondered how they could be so excited about being somewhere far away from their home. Especially when they're tied up like they are.

He made a face. "How did you even get tied up?" Claus asked, ignoring the judging stares from the remaining crowd.

They giggled. "Oh, someone broke into my house and tied me up~! Don't worry about it, there's not much they can do. Not without me." Their giggles continue and Claus leaned back, raising his eyebrows.

Waving their hand from where it was bound, they said, "Now, then shall we introduce each other? I am Ionia~ It’s a pleasure to meet you....hm?"

Did...they forget him? Claus wrinkled his nose. "Uh, yeah, I know you, Ionia. We met earlier, at one of the hot springs?" Granted, Claus had blanked on their name after everything had happened but he still at least he remembered they had met.

Ionia blinked and then covered a quiet giggle. "So we have! I don't know how I forgot you, Mr. PK Love~"

Somehow, the comment made Claus flush in embarrassment. Why was that his most memorable aspect? It was just a PSI attack, same as all the others. PK Love might be rarer than other ones, but that didn't meant he was the only one who had it--right?

He cleared his throat. "Right. Okay, I should...untie you right now." Claus reached forward to do just that but Ionia rolled away. "What are you doing?" He asked, frustrated.

Ionia shook their head. "I'll be alright, dear! I need to go see my sibling--Aeolia~" They kept...giggling. Claus wondered if he should be a little more concerned about the giggles. Was that normal...?

"Er. Okay." Claus let out a breath. "I can help you get there?"

They giggled again. "Yes, of course! I would love the help, Mr. PK Love." They wiggled in place before they managed to get to their feet somehow while still tied up.

Claus eyeballed them. "It's...Claus. That's my name. Not PK Love." He reached out and steadied them. They beamed at him and gestured towards the forest. He shifted a bit so that they could lean on him better. Boney ran ahead of the two of them, leading the way back towards the town square.

Unfortunately, he only made it two steps before Wess appeared. "Claus!" Wess put himself between Claus and the town square. "You need to be resting, not running off."

He made a face. Wess was being far more overprotective than Flint normally was--whom Claus wondered why he wasn't there--and was starting to get on Claus' nerves. "Wess, I'm fine--"

"Wess, leave Claus be." Alec's voice echoed.

Wess spun around, surprised. "Alec! He's your grandson, aren't you worried?"

Alec sighed. "I trust Claus not to do anything too foolish and to worry his family and friends. And... hello, Ionia. Is Claus helping you with something?" He addressed the person at Claus' side.

Ionia beamed. "Of course! He's helping me get to my dear sibling~ That is alright, is it not?" They tilted their head at Alec, smiling.

He nodded. "Yes. That's fine. Though considering Claus presumably offered to help himself?" Alec glanced at Claus who nodded at his grandfather. He had offered, after all, though he wished that they'd talk with him and not just talk about him over his head.

His grandfather nodded again. "Then you can go, Claus. Do take care and I'll tell Flint where you are, alright?" He turned around and pulled Wess away with him, both heading back towards the senior house.

Claus watched them go before turning around to continue on his way. He'd just...try his best to ignore that, for all that he was grateful Alec had gotten Wess off his back. Alec hadn't really done...much since Claus' mother had died. Grief that Claus understood well, though it didn't change how Claus was...disappointed in the man for not doing anything for them. 'Them' being himself and Flint. It felt like he had abandoned them.

Abandoned them when they were dealing with both Hinawa's and Lucas' deaths.

He sighed in frustration. Claus had told himself he wouldn't dwell on the past but it seemed it was something he couldn't escape. It was something to wonder about, that his family was so hung up on grief. Alec, Flint, Claus himself...Three out of five, and the only reason he didn't know about the other two was because they were the two they were grieving for.

Claus wondered, not for the first time, if Lucas would've mourned and grieved for him as long or would've come to terms with it and moved on. He probably would've, Claus always thought, because Lucas always did think more than he did.

The two of them had always covered for each other's short comings.

He should never have let Lucas leave anywhere alone.

"Now, now, Claus, what is with that melancholy aura?" Ionia spoke up out of the blue. They beamed at him as soon as they got his attention.

Claus sighed. "It's just things that I need to move on from." He muttered softly, focusing on ignoring all the people around him. All of them were once more sending the trio of dog, boy, and PSI user strange or judging looks, as if they were the strangest things they'd ever seen.

Which was mostly annoying due to the fact that any chimera was stranger than their combination of a trio. He doubted saying that would actually convince them though. Most of Tazmily these days were very stubborn in their biases.

He paused and glanced longingly at the bakery, where he knew Fuel and his other sort of friends would be right now. He kind of wanted to go see them yet Claus wanted to find Kumatora and Duster first. That was fine right? To make sure his friends were alive and healthy?

Once, he would've thought that answer was a yes. Now--Ugh, he was still dwelling and allowing his thoughts to circle around the changes in Tazmily. He hadn't realized he had done that so much until after he had left Tazmily and then returned. Claus was glad he had never spoke of it out loud--Kuma would never let his circle of thoughts down if he had.

Finally, as they entered the forest that skirted the town and the route to his grandfather's former house, Claus felt the tension drain from his shoulders. Tazmily was making him tense and...it really shouldn't, yeah? It was his home. He grew up there and it should be a comfort.

But it was just a burden.

He blinked away his wavering sight and cleared his throat. "Where do you need to go from here, Ionia?" Claus asked them, shifting so Ionia could stand by themself.

"Oh, we just need to head that a way, and then we'll be there~" Ionia chirped, pointing towards the path that lead northward. It was the same path he remembered taking as a kid to head to Alec's place.

Huh.

Claus shook his head before he said, "Yeah, okay. Is there anything I need to know about where you need to go?" Like what the house Ionia's sibling even looked like?

Ionia hummed a no and Claus internally made a face. How...lovely. Hopefully they'd tell him when they got there. With that in mind, he offered his shoulder for Ionia to lean on again but the PSI used shook their head again and started hopping along.

Well, it was their choice to do so. Claus was a little too tired right now to argue with them. Wess had been a little bit right, in that he should've rested longer. Not that he was going to say that out loud. Once he got to Ionia's sibling's place, he should be able to rest for a little bit.

"Oh, turn here, dear!" Ionia chirped and nodded towards the path to the right that led to a set of caverns. Claus frowned but followed the directions, wary of the chimera he knew were going to be hiding in the shadows. He doubted there wasn't a cave anywhere on the Nowhere Islands didn't have any chimera in it right now.

Boney seemed to be taking joy from leading the way through the caverns, adjusting his run every time Claus or Ionia yelled. The latter didn't do it much but Claus had to make sure that Boney didn't run off ahead without them. He didn't want Boney out on his own too, like Kumatora and Duster were.

Speaking of...Claus glanced at Ionia's pink hair. "This might be a little weird to ask right now," He said, "But do you know someone named Kumatora?"

Ionia did seem surprised by the question, but more so that he asked it than that he'd mentioned Kumatora. "Why, dear, we raised her~ She learned everything she knows about PSI from us." They bounced with cheer at the thought of the girl, though she did seem almost seem sad in a while.

Claus wondered why they felt like that but didn't feel like bringing it up. It seemed far too complicated to deal with it right now, when he needed to focus on the chimera. In fact, he poked at his yo-yo that he was glad had still been with his things. Claus was a little surprised it survived the fall--but then, he was surprised he had survived that fall too.

He paused as fiddled with said yo-yo. A couple of mole-like chimera crawled towards the trio, with clear violent intent. Boney rushed back to them and Ionia gasped in surprise with a soft 'oh dear!'

Clicking his tongue, Claus swung the yo-yo around and slammed it into one of the chimera's faces. It clanged like metal and he made a face. If this chimera was made from metal, it'd take some time to take it down.

Boney didn't have the same worries as the dog leapt into battle, bopping one on the head. It gave a metallic screech in response and Claus made another disgruntled face. That wasn't a fun sound, he thought.

Dodging one of the two chimera's swipes, Claus kicked it from the ground and across it. It squeaked metallicaly and then retreated from Claus' attacks. Meanwhile, Boney kicked the other in its face and yelped as it shocked him.

Claus winced at the sound and rushed towards Boney. He stopped for a moment and remembered: PK Cure. It was hovering just like all of his other PSI abilities under the surface but he can't...quite remember how he got it. Probably in Thunder Tower, he thought, as he did heal someone there then. Kumatora, maybe.

Either way, he used it to heal Boney's minor injuries and turned around to swat one of the chimera in the face. It whined loudly and the two finally whirred away back into the earth whence they came. Claus rolled his eyes at the retreating chimera and ruffled Boney's ears.

That took longer than he thought it would. But it also didn't end the way he thought it would so who really cares in the end?

"Let's continue, dear!" Ionia chirped as they bounced past Claus.

Their unnatural cheer made Claus just a little irritated. Did anything get them down? It was like they were eternally of some sort of joy high. A joy high that was somewhat getting on Claus' nerves.

Shaking himself, Claus followed Ionia further through the caverns. Boney seemed to have changed his mind about leading the way and was now bouncing around Claus heels. "Calm down, boy." Claus murmured as the dog shoved his nose into a rock crevasse.

Boney barked at him excitedly and bumped his nose against Claus' hand. Claus smiled at the dog and ruffled Boney's ears some more. He was so glad to see his dog wasn't as seemingly depressed as Claus was right now.

"Everything seems to be going wrong right now, Boney." He confessed quietly to Boney as they trailed in Ionia's bouncing wake. "I really want to see Kumatora and Duster right now but they're somewhere else on the islands right now and who knows what might happen next."

It'd be naive to think that the pigmasks would leave him alone after helping destroy Thunder Tower so he couldn't go back. Heck, he was lucky that they hadn't found him while he was passed out in the senior home.

He paused as Ionia stopped at the mouth of the cavern. "Is something wrong?" Claus asked as he stopped behind them.

Ionia shook their head. "Oh no, nothing is wrong dear! I just couldn't hear you behind me~" They winked cheerfully before they hopped into the light of the outside.

Claus wrinkled his nose but sighed and followed them. He had to squint against the light as his eyes readjusted to the change. Boney passed him with excited barking and bouncing along and Claus tilted his head as he spotted a river ahead of them.

Shaking his head, he trailed after Ionia, who seemed to be talking to some frogs. For...some reason. "What are you doing?" Claus asked, feeling a bit like he was an idiot.

"Oh, I'm negotiating a bridge for us to cross, dear!" Ionia chirped and then turned back to the frogs. "I do believe you already have a deal with my sibling Aeolia? We merely did to cross for the moment, dears."

The frogs seemed to argue amongst themselves before they ribbited at Ionia and Ionia cheered. "Thank you dear ones~!" They looked like they wanted to clap but obviously couldn't.

In response, the frogs split up and formed a strange bridge. Ionia hopped across without hesitation but Claus was hesitant. They were frogs--how could they possibly hold his weight? Let alone several people's weights in a row.

Boney didn't give him a choice to back away as the dog bumped into his legs and Claus felt himself stepping forward. Hurriedly, he jumped from one frog to another until he was on the other side of the river. Claus flopped down to his knees with a sharp gasp and wince. That...wasn't fun.

His dog partner gave him a barking laugh as he followed on Claus' heels. Boney bumped his nose against Claus' shoulder and Claus gave the dog an unhappy look. Why did he have to chase Claus across the river?

"Come along dears~!" Ionia yelled over their shoulder and Claus scrambled to his feet. Right, he had to keep up with Ionia.

...Why was he doing this again?

Oh, right, because he was stubborn and trying to prove a point to Wess.

Sighing, Claus rushed after Ionia as they led the three of them into a brand new area. It wasn't a place he'd seen before, despite all the times he'd come up here, and he was curious about it. Was it strange that he wanted to explore? ...Naw, probably not.

As they passed through a small wood and into a clearing, Claus' gaze was drawn in a large pond in the center of the clearing. A save frog was napping near some random tree to the south. And in the center of the pond was a...giant seashell?

Ionia beamed. "Here we are!" They declared and, to Claus' shock, shook the ropes off like they were nothing.

"How did you do that?!" He demanded. Because if they could do that the whole time why did they bounce around like that?

They giggled, chuckled, and clapped their hands. "Why, it was easy? I had just to slip out. And in any case, this is Aeolia's place! Which reminds me, we need to speak to you about something, dear."

Claus furrowed his brow. "Speak about what?"

"Why, about your PK Love, of course! We magypsies are quite excited about it!" Ionia clapped again before practically trouncing towards the seashell house.

Wait...magypsies? Hadn't Kumatora mentioned something like that? When they asked about her abilities and knowledge about PSI, she'd mentioned something like that.

Without thinking, Claus raced after Ionia. He definitely needed answers now.

Inside the house, Ionia was chatting with a large...person with equally pink hair and a strangely hued beard. They seemed to be giggling with each other and Claus realized the obvious: That was Aeolia.

He cleared his throat and the other two people in the room looked at him. Claus stared at them awkwardly as Boney slipped in behind him and flopped on the ground with an excited huff. Probably because he got to sleep on the floor again.

"Dear me, Ionia, is this the one with PK Love~?," The pink haired 'Aeolia' said, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you! Perhaps this means the time has finally come..."

Claus narrowed his eyes. "Time for what?"

* * *

"So, let me get this right," Claus said, "You two and five others are magypsies, immortal beings who have mastered PSI. You guard seven needles that keep a great dragon from rising and possibly ending the world and wait for the person who can use PK Love to do so. Am I right?"

Ionia clapped excitedly. "Why yes, you get it just right, dear!" They looked just about ready to explode from their own excitement.

Next to them, Aeolia leaned back in their large comfy chair. "Now that you understand that much, we have one thing to ask of you: Pull the needles."

What.

What?!

"You want me to pull the needles that prevent a huge dragon that could destroy the world?! Why?!" He demanded, exasperated and actively somewhat infuriated. Why would they ask him to get the world destroyed?

Ionia shook their head. "The world will only be destroyed if the one who pulls the needles has a bad heart. And I think you have a good one, Dear Claus." They beamed at him as if that would be enough to reassure him--which it most definitely was not.

Claus waved his hands around, frustrated. "That's not enough! What reason do I have to pull the needles? There's no reason to do that!" Seriously, besides them apparently wanting to die, there was no reason for Claus to pull the needles. Which he didn't want to do anyway but...well, evidently that wasn't enough for them.

"Because the ones who attacked me have someone who also wield PK Love and stole the method to get to my needle." Ionia's voice was soft and serious, which was enough to jolt Claus out of his funk. Because that...didn't sound good.

He let out a breath. "Okay. But do you know they're even going to do anything about it?" If it was just some random group of people, than maybe it wasn't a big deal? Except...the thought that the only group he could think of that might pull that was...

"They wore pig shaped masks," Ionia said.

Dragon damn it. It seemed Ionia knew just what to say to get him to give in. "...fine, so you have good reason to worry. But why do you want me to do this, before they've even tried?"

Aeolia cleared their throat. "Because it's better if we can get a head start on them. If we can get them all before they can, than the surviving people of the Nowhere Islands will have nothing to worry about." They stared at him as they said that last part. It was if they were daring him to argue.

He made a face and pulled back with a sigh. It was clear that no matter what he said, they were dead set on this course. Which meant he had to go along with it for now. "Fine. Where do we start?"

"With mine~," Aeolia said with great cheer, "I have a secret passage there so, follow me~" They waved their hands and stood and, to Claus's surprise, a hole opened up in the floor of the seashell house.

Claus eyeballed it. "Are all of them going to be this easy?"

"Nope!" The duo of magypsies chorused. Claus scowled and thought, yeah that just made sense. Even if it was something he didn't admit to making sense.

The newly formed group of four descended down the ladder and into some catacomb-like tunnels. Inside were yet more chimera, which the quartet made short work of...by scaring them away. Apparently both Aeolia and Ionia had powerful PSI yet were pacifists. They had cheerfully scared the chimeras off with light shows but otherwise didn't touch the creatures.

That...partially explained why Ionia used the 'being tied up' thing as an excuse to not help them on the way to Aeolia. It still annoyed Claus. A couple of distractions could've easily helped them out when those mole chimera attacked them.

At least they were doing something. They could just stand and watch him fight, instead. Not that he was going to say that out loud because the two were definitely the type to do just that if he said anything. It made his life easier without saying anything about it.

Besides, it's not like he had to voice every one of his thoughts.

Eventually, they made it to a change in the structure of the tunnels. The previous brickwork had been a pale pink while the brickwork of the tunnels they were in now were a dark gray, dusted with broken rocks and other things. Like...weird pieces of metal, which were probably from a random chimera.

Claus ruffled his hair and turned to Ionia. "So where are we now?" He asked.

"Oshoe Castle~ Or close enough that it makes no difference." Aeolia patted their hair cheerfully. "The needle is hidden within the castle."

Huh. He didn't know there was something like that in there--though, perhaps that was the point. People weren't supposed to know there was something valuable in the castle or else people would probably want in on whatever is inside. Even if they couldn't actually pull it free.

However, he still squinted down the hall, trying to see if he could see anything besides dust and cowering chimera. Which was...hard as the hall was pretty dark. Not as dark as a void without light, but shadowed, with very little light. How were they supposed to find a way up to the castle out of these hallway tombs?

Ionia seemed to notice how dark it was as well and raised their hand. A pink-gold aura appeared around Ionia's hand and a couple of spheres of light broke away and flitted forward to light the way. Boney barked and bounded forward, nosing up towards the lights curiously.

"We're almost there~" Aeolia chirped cheerfully as they also bounded forward.

Claus watched them for a moment before heading after them. Ionia followed behind them as if to guard the group from chimera that may sneak up on them. Thankfully, none approached. Strange, because Claus was almost certain that they'd normally come after them.

Perhaps the magypsy duo were more dangerous than he thought, despite being pacifists. Claus wondered if there was any evidence of that--and then remembered, again, that they had scared the chimera off with PSI Claus was pretty sure he'd never be able to pull off.

He let that train of thought go as they reach what seemed to be more like a cellar than a crypt. A staircase led up towards the castle proper, or so Claus thought. It made sense for it to be so--he jogged up the rest of the staircase, past Aeolia.

The floor above was a rotting storage room, with broken crates and barrels. He gently kicked one of the broken barrels and sighed as the other three joined up with him. Claus turned around to look at Aeolia. "Where do we go from here?"

Aeolia clapped their hands brightly. "Why, just follow me~ The ghosts won't give us any trouble if I'm with you!"

...Wait, ghosts?

While Claus tried to process it, Aeolia and Ionia turned around to try and head out. Boney shook him out of his thoughts by licking his hand rapidly. "Uh--Thanks, Boney." Claus murmured to the dog before jogging to catch up with the magypsy duo didn't seem to notice.

The new area was just as rotting and ancient as the storage room he had just left. Claus didn't get much time to explore the strange castle as Ionia and Aeolia seemed to have gone entirely into business mode. It took him practically running to keep up with the two as they led the way up to the third floor.

Once they reached the third floor, the two led him to a balcony. Claus leaned over the edge and peered down towards the ground. The courtyard down below was mostly empty and there was only one way down to it. Aeolia stood next to him, also peering down. "See that?," They said, pointing down towards the center of the courtyard, "That is a needle."

Claus eyeballed the strange little metal staff with what seemed to be a golden winged top. "How do we get there?" He asked.

Aeolia smirked. "This way." They flounced down the hall and seemingly disappeared into a wall. Claus blinked after, baffled by the ancient being's disappearance.

"Come along, now, dear~" Ionia chirped, gently leading Claus towards the spot.

It was a strange feeling, walking through a wall. Like every pore on his body was frozen and then thawed in only seconds. It made him shudder and shuffle his feet the moment he got on the other side of the wall.

Boney bounced through as well and shook his fur as if he'd walked out of a river. Claus smiled at the dog and turned around to look at Ionia and Aeolia...and saw something kind of impossible. Somehow, he was in the courtyard, despite the fact that it was on the first floor with no doors in and no way to get there. And he had just been on the third floor.

"How...?!" Claus gasped.

Ionia turned around with a hum. "Oh, what's wrong, dear?"

He flailed his hands at the courtyard. "How did we get here from a hallway all the way up there?!" Claus gestured up towards where he had spotted the balcony.

"Oh, that's just a use of PSI, Claus! No need to worry about it~" Ionia giggled and waved their hand. "Now, come over here, Aeolia needs to talk to you real quick before you pull that needle, okay?"

Claus blinked a second before he approached the other magypsy. Aeolia hummed a little tune as they peered up at the castle walls, as if savoring the landscape one more time. It was more than a little dark of a thought.

"Aeolia?" Claus wondered aloud. "What did you need me for?"

They blinked and then beam at him. "Oh, hello, dear! I don't think you've noticed, but you have a bit of a PSI block on you right now--Sometimes, knocks to the head can mess with your PSI abilities."

He raised his eyebrows. PSI block, huh? "What exactly does that do?" He asked.

Clapping their hands once, Aeolia said, "Why, it prevents you from doing some of your more interesting PSI attacks--as well as some of your passive abilities. You haven't replied to poor Boney here at all since you both arrived." They winked down at the dog.

Replied to...? He looked down at Boney who barked at him. Oh. Oh! Aeolia had a point--for some reason he hadn't been able to hear Boney's voice since he woke up. That was...strange. Especially because he hadn't noticed that he couldn't understand Boney.

He looked back to Aeolia. "How do I fix it?" Claus asked.

"Ah, simple!" Aeolia reached forward and grabbed his head. There was one single moment of long agony, as if every part of his body was on fire, frozen, and shocked all at once until it stopped. Aeolia let go and turned back towards the needle, casually patting their hair like they hadn't just left Claus in agony.

Boney started barking. "(Hey, what was that for?! You hurt him!)"

Claus placed his hand on the dog's head. "I'm...okay, Boney. Just tired." That had been far more exhausting than almost anything he'd experienced so far.

The dog started barking rapidly in excitement at Claus actually responding to him and Claus could only smile. He was glad Boney was happy yet...why had he not been able to understand earlier? What had Aeolia meant by a PSI block? They said it was minor but it didn't explain how he got it in the first place.

Aeolia cleared their throat. "I don't mean to rush, but perhaps we can pull the needle now? I am eager to know what happens to us~"

Didn't you say you'll probably die? Claus thought. Guess they wouldn't know what death was like, considering they were practically immortal until now. It must be weirdly exciting, to have something new to do. Even if that new thing was the end.

Ugh, that was depressing. So was the idea or fact that Claus was basically about to kill someone.

That thought made him hesitate at the needle. He glanced over his shoulder at Aeolia. "Are you sure?" Claus asked, partially hoping Aeolia would say no, they changed their mind. He didn't want that type of burden on his shoulders, even if it was to save the world.

"Yes, I am~" Aeolia chirped, crossing their arms in front of them.

Claus stared at them for a long time before he turned back to the needle. The needle shone in the sunlight. It was almost as if it wanted to be pulled, like it wanted Claus to pull it. Which was strange--it's just a needle. How could it want anything?

In that moment, he realized that he was scared. How could he not be? If he pulled that needle, he was going to kill someone. He was going to have to pull more needles after, too, which would kill more people. Why wouldn't he feel afraid to have that sort of burden on his shoulders?

He closed his eyes, trying to push away his fear. Claus leaned forward and placed his hands on the wings of the needle's top. For a moment he closed his eyes, savoring his last moments of not being a murderer, before he jerked the needle upwards.

Almost as soon as it was out of the ground, it dissolved into light and shot into the sky with a beam of light.

Claus had to close his eyes against the light, because it hurt. Backing away from the light, Claus turned around to look at Aeolia and Ionia. "Hey, is that okaaaahhhh!" He stumbled as the world rocked.

"Ooooh, my!" Aeolia cried as the world shook for several long seconds. "Here it comes!!"

He ended up falling on his behind. Above them, the castle rocked with the earth before, finally, the shaking stopped. Claus blinked rapidly as Boney whined at his side. "Is that...going to happen every single time?" He asked.

A quiet chuckle that sounded like it came from far away echoed around him. "Sorry, dear, it will~" Aeolia's voice also sounded like it was from far away. "It's just what happens when the dragon moves. And the dragon will be moving a lot, when each needle gets pulled~"

Claus looked at Aeolia and almost swallowed his tongue: Aeolia was see through, like they weren't really there and never had been. Like they were just an illusion of the light, slowly fading away as each second passed them by.

"You're--dying." Claus whispered. Guilt roared up inside like a fire. "Aeolia..."

Aeolia tilted their head at him. "Oh my, are you really that sad about this? You don't have to worry about this, little Claus: This is my dream. I'm rather tired of waiting around for this to be over with, you see."

Ionia reached out their hand and Aeolia placed their own fading hand over theirs. "I will miss you dear, but not for long. We shall reunite after my needle is pulled."

"Oh, dear Ionia! I hope it doesn't take too long. It'll be rather lonely without any of you there to be with me!" Aeolia giggled. "But I know I'll survive until you do arrive."

They seemed to embrace--or as much as they could embrace when one of them was fading away. Once they pulled away from one another, Aeolia reached out to Claus, holding something very solid in their nearly gone hand. "Hold onto this for me, won't you? It can be something to remember me by~" They giggled.

Claus picked it up and watched Aeolia's final moment until the magypsy finally vanished. Why did he have to keep watching people die? First it was his mother and even if he didn't know them well, now he watched Aeolia die. Watching anyone die was a harrowing experience.

"Claus." Ionia turned towards him. "I will be leaving now to figure out a way to create a new key to enter the temple where my needle is hidden for you. Until we meet again, farewell~"

And then they turned paper thin and disappeared onto a wind that began from nowhere.

Huh. Claus looked down at Boney. "Where to next, do you think?"

Boney gave a doggy shrug. "(Let's go back to town? Maybe Alex knows something about where the other magypsies are!)" His tongue lulled out as he waited for some form of praise.

Praise that was quick to come. "Good idea, for now, Boney. Let's go." He turned back towards the wall they'd come from and searched it for the way out. At least he wouldn't have to go through the catacombs and forest to get back to Tazmily.

Time to find out where the next needle was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> claus: i'm going to try and think things through more!  
> also claus: [gets hung up on worries as a result]
> 
> claus is definitely more of an action person so when he thinks about stuff he probably....gets anxious far more easily.

**Author's Note:**

> story title comes from OST track 'she was like a sunflower'
> 
> if you have any questions hmu at [@dreamerdarkrequiem](http://dreamerdarkrequiem.tumblr.com/)


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